The number of catering establishments is growing in the regions

The regions have noticed an increase in the number of catering establishments. Over the first six months of 2024, the number of clients from small and medium-sized businesses in the catering sector increased by 47%. These are mainly restaurants and companies providing food delivery services, said Anna Kornelyuk, head of the Small and Medium Business division of DOM.RF Bank. The leaders in growth were Krasnoyarsk Krai — 3.3 times, as well as Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg, which showed growth of 2.4 times.

At the same time, almost every fourth catering enterprise uses credit programs for business development. Thus, the volume of financing has increased more than threefold in six months. The turnover of restaurants and cafes is also growing: in six months it has doubled.

«Most often, catering establishments connect such banking services as corporate cards — their share is 26%, as well as salary projects — 18%. Acquiring is the most popular service for small businesses, every second bank client uses it. Acquiring services allow small businesses to organize a convenient mechanism for settlements with clients for restaurant services, including accepting remuneration for waiters — tips,» explained Anna Kornelyuk.

A study on how people pay tips, conducted in cooperation with the Financial University, showed that more than 70% of restaurant and cafe visitors leave a tip for waiters for service. Half of them do this almost always. About 40% prefer to leave waiters 6-10% of the bill, more than 30% — 1-5%.

«We conducted a study to find out how people prefer to pay tips and what methods they use to do so,» said Alexander Tsyganov, Head of Department at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Economics. «The study demonstrated that it is important for people to decide on their own about the bonus for the waiter and its amount — more than 75% of respondents supported this. Thus, the practice of some foreign countries, which include tips in the total order bill, seems inapplicable to Russia. The main motives for leaving a tip, according to respondents, were the desire to help waiters increase their income (29%), so as not to feel guilty before the person who served them (26%), and the generally accepted norm (24%).»

The development of digital payment services is influencing the gradual growth in the popularity of non-cash tip transfers — via QR code or to the waiter's account. Almost 35% of respondents answered that they leave non-cash tips as often or slightly less often than with cash payments.