星巴克电子小费无力为咖啡师增收

    从本周开始，手机轻轻划几划，星巴克公司（Starbucks Corp）的顾客就可以给咖啡师付小费了。这家总部位于西雅图的咖啡连锁品牌上周三更新了它广受欢迎的手机app。它的1,000万app用户如今可以通过电子方式，给他们的咖啡师付小费。这个想法本身不错，也可以鼓励咖啡师更好地服务客户，但这样的app并不一定就能帮助解决星巴克员工小费过少的问题。

    根据美国就业市场网站玻璃门（Glassdoor）的数据显示，星巴克的咖啡师每小时时薪是8.8美元，而每年的小费收入只有1,300美元。随着手机支付日益普及以及电子小费的出现，星巴克的员工希望能够收到更多的小费。电子支付简单方便，而且相对于直接付现钞，会不可避免的给人一种没花那么多钱的感觉。不过单单这些因素并不会自动让顾客的习惯发生转变，更不用说美国只有64%的星巴克店铺支持电子小费。

    根据美国研究机构Trefis的研究，如果每家星巴克平均每天招待618名客人，而且假设服务水平还不错，那么员工每年的小费收入确实过低。而根据我自己的估计，若每名顾客都至少给50美分小费（这是通过手机能够支付的最低额度的小费。根据生活经验，这也是最合适的小费金额），那么咖啡师每年1,300美元的小费收入意味着每年有2,600名顾客付了小费。但就算你假设咖啡师（兼职工作）每周只工作三天，他们每年经手的顾客仍然有10万名之多。这表明，只有3%的顾客付了小费——无论按照什么标准，这都属于很低的水平。值得注意的是，有些客人的小费也许高于50美分， 也就是说实际付小费的客人比例应该比这个数字更低。

    造成这种现象的一个可能原因会让很多人觉得意外：星巴克的员工效率太高了。

    大部分时间步入任何一家星巴克，大家都会发现排队等待咖啡和食物的顾客。面对此情此景，咖啡师自然会以最快的速度解决顾客需求。这是一种非常高效的流水线系统，但讽刺的地方在于，这个系统越高效，顾客就越难注意到手中那杯咖啡背后付出了多少辛勤的劳动。服务的速度，加上咖啡师和顾客之间的物理隔离（咖啡师在柜台后），减损了顾客对服务价值的感受。而在类似餐馆的场所，顾客可以切身地感受到他们的确是得到了服务员的“服务”。

    去年，纽约州上诉法院的一项裁决至少导致纽约州的咖啡师收入水平进一步恶化。判决裁定星巴克咖啡师须与轮班主管共同分享小费收入（说句公道话，轮班主管也要承担一部分咖啡师的工作），这样一来，原本就捉襟见肘的小费进一步被稀释了。而且，鉴于允许员工收取小费的公司往往薪水偏低，这种情况可能最终其实是宰了星巴克员工一笔。

    为公平起见，星巴克应对员工实际收取的小费进行分析，把它与薪水挂钩。这样就有助于确保这家咖啡连锁保持员工对薪水处于满意状态，维持将来高质量的服务。另外还有一个好处，它也可以让顾客意识到，有时候最好的服务恰恰是那不动声色的服务。

    本文作者桑杰•桑吉是一名政治与商业评论家，曾供职于投资银行Lazard Freres、Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein以及对冲基金Ramius。桑吉现任中端市场广播电台运营商戴维森媒体集团董事。他还拥有哥伦比亚商学院MBA学位，此外还著有两部惊悚小说。(财富中文网)

    译者：Liam

    Starting this week, customers at Starbucks Corp (SBUX) can tip baristas with a few swipes on their mobile phone. The Seattle-based coffee chain on Wednesday updated its popular mobile app, giving its 10 million active users the convenience of tipping their baristas digitally. While the move is well-intentioned, and will likely make some baristas extra eager to please customers, the tipping app may not necessarily help Starbucks workers solve the problem of low tips.

    Starbucks baristas, who earn an average hourly wage of $8.80, make only about $1,300 in tips per year, according to Glassdoor. The hope is that the growing popularity of mobile payments and the introduction of digital tipping will increase tipping. Electronic payments are easy to execute; inevitably, it feels less burdensome than parting with hard cash. But these factors alone won't automatically change customer behavior, not to mention that this option is only available in 64% of Starbucks stores in the U.S.

    Given that Starbucks stores average 618 customers per day, according to a study by Trefis, and customer service across the chain is generally good, the yearly tip number seems inadequate. By my own estimates, a minimum gratuity of 50 cents (which is the least you can tip through the mobile app and also a reasonable amount by experience) applied to the yearly average of $1,300 per barista, implies that 2,600 customers tipped. But even if you assume that baristas (being part-timers) only work 3 days a week, they would still encounter more than 100,000 customers a year. That means only 3% of customers bothered to tip at all, and that is a low number by any standard. It's worth noting that some customers probably tip higher than 50 cents, which would suggest that a fewer share of customers tip.

    A likely, if surprising, reason for this is that the staff at Starbucks may be too efficient.

    Walk into any Starbucks at most times and you will encounter a long line of customers waiting for coffee or food, and a team of baristas rushing to serve them as quickly as possible. It's a very efficient assembly-line system, but the irony is the more efficient the system, the less customers are aware of the hard work that goes into your cup of joe. The speed with which customers are served and physical detachment from the barista (behind the counter) detracts from perceived value – unlike, for instance, at a restaurant, where customers feel that they are really being 'served' by a waiter.

    Making the earnings of a Starbucks barista worse, at least in New York, is the state Court of Appeals ruling last year that requires them to share their tips with shift supervisors (who, to be fair, do some of the same work as the baristas), further diluting the meager pool of tips available for sharing in the first place. And since companies that enable employees to receive tips also typically pay lower salaries, this situation can actually wind up shortchanging Starbucks employees.

    To be fair to its workers, Starbucks should analyze the actual tips received and correlate that with the salaries it pays. That will help to ensure that the chain keeps its employees happy and maintains its high quality of service in the future. It also wouldn't hurt for customers to recognize that the best service is sometimes one you don't even notice.

    Sanjay Sanghoee is a political and business commentator. He has worked at investment banks Lazard Freres and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, as well as at hedge fund Ramius. Sanghoee sits on the Board of Davidson Media Group, a mid-market radio station operator. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School and is also the author of two thriller novels.