In honor of National Coffee Day, Square released generalized data related to both consumer trends and operational strategies among thousands of U.S. cafes. Square is a popular point-of-sale systems and analytics provider. The report released by Square is broken down into four main topics- Most popular coffee drinks across the country, customers’ average tipping percentage by state, average coffee drink costs broken down by U.S. region, and peak times on weekends vs. weekdays.

The most popular coffee drink in U.S. cafés is hot coffee. Majority of U.S. consumers order hot coffee at just over 51%. However, it is reported that iced coffee comes is a mere 2% which is less than chai or hot chocolate. This can reflect the lack of differentiation in the menu as reflected through POS systems, or that Americans are straying away from cold coffee.

Through data analysis on tipping per state, it is reported that North Dakota has the biggest tips. In general, it appears that consumers in the South, the Southwest, the Rockies and the Midwest are more generous with their tips, whereas consumers in much of the Northeast have proven to be the stingiest. New Hampshire consumers placed last in the Union, while Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont were close runner-ups.

The average drink costs by U.S. Region can be determined through the reports released by Square. Every region has difference in prices, widely affected by the demands of the consumer. While the Mid Atlantic has the highest average cost out of all the regions in terms of their Americano, the price of their Mocha is significantly less than other regions. This can be the effects of less demand of Mocha. Moreover, the Pacific Coast has one of the higher average coasts for Chai, while their Americanos are cheaper than other regions due to the trends of Chai in the Pacific region.

Lastly, peak times on weekends and weekdays can be observed. 8:30 AM is the peak on weekdays while 9:45 is the peak on weekends. Moreover it has been noted that a number of cafés are opening around 4:30 AM on weekdays. Square also notes that tea sales increase by an average of 45 percent after noon.

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