Surprisingly, Panera Bread's "Pay What You Can" Model Is Working

Panera Bread has been trying out a donation-only “pay what you can” model at three locations for the past year, and says that it’s working. The chain says that 60% of people put in the full retail amount in the box, 20% put more in, and 20% put in less. Panera’s founder says it all works because “people are fundamentally good” but I’d like to see how well one of these stores located in an area where greed, theft, and self-interest above all is glamorized — like Wall Street.

Panera Bread lets diners ‘pay what you can’ [Christian Science Monitor via BoingBoing]
Panera lets people pay what they can [Portland Tribune]

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