In central China's Hubei Province, a local breakfast joint has thrived after adopting a "Pay What You Want" strategy. After implementing the pricing initiative five years ago, the small eatery in Huangshi city has seen a substantial rise in monthly income.
Run and staffed by Lu Lianbing and his wife Fan Xiaolan, the restaurant offering a popular fast-food menu has served a moderate-sized neighbourhood for eight years. During its first three years, Lu found that his customers, mostly regulars, often failed to bring small change - and breaking large notes can be a fuss.
As a solution, the restaurateur decided to trust his patrons' good faith and allow them to pay what they want after finishing the meal. In addition to a plastic receptacle for cash, three tin cans are set out, each containing coins and notes of different denominations, so that the customers can get their change. All goes on unsupervised.
In spite of his wife's initial misgivings, Lu stuck with the experiment. After a trial run of several weeks, they were delighted to find that their income didn't suffer. On certain days, they would collect more than their usual receipts.
As their distinctive pricing model drew attention and more patrons, their monthly income actually saw a significant growth to the current 10,000 yuan (1,450 US dollars) from the former 7,000 yuan (1,014 US dollars).
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