More like INconvenience fees, amirite?

The diners are finally subsidizing convenience

image via Toast

Maybe you can put a price on innovation.

Last week, a report from Reforming Retail said Clover, a point of sale provider for restaurants, was adding a $1.50 consumer charge to online orders over $30. The fee is paid by the diner, bypasses the restaurant, and goes directly to the tech company.

When I asked Clover about the charge that was reportedly set to go into effect earlier this month, a company rep told me it actually wasn’t:

“When Clover Online Ordering was introduced in April 2020, we waived all order fees because of the pandemic. This fee is still being waived for all orders through Clover Online Ordering, and at this time we do not have any plans to introduce this fee,” the a rep for the company said [emphasis mine].

This structure, noting that the fee exists, acknowledges the cost of the service, even if Clover isn’t charging the diner.

This news surfaced shortly after a different point of sale company, Toast, added its own customer fee: $1 to online orders over $10. In both instances — Clover’s almost-introduced charge and Toast’s confirmed charge, a restaurant can’t turn off the fee. The restaurant brings the customer to the table, but the tech company profits from use of its customer-facing software. 

Here’s a hard truth about this new phase of restaurant convenience and on-demand everything: we can’t have it all of the ways.