Five Ways You Can Implement COVID-19 Surcharges While Keeping Customers Happy

4 Min Read By Ben Walker

With more than 23,000 closures since March, restaurants are one of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19, according to the Yelp Local Economic Impact Report. Not only were thousands of restaurants required to close for a period of time, but inventory prices have increased and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended potentially expensive new sanitation processes and reduced capacities.

To help offset all of this, some restaurants have implemented COVID-19 surcharges, either by raising menu prices or adding a fee to the total bill. But how do customers feel about this? 

A FinanceBuzz survey about COVID-19 surcharges found that 31 percent of Americans would stop frequenting local restaurants and 41 percent would stop going to chain restaurants that charge this fee. In addition, 45% of bar-goers said they’d stop patronizing bars that impose a COVID-19 surcharge.

As restaurants continue to permanently close, restaurant management is faced with a complicated…