Popular self-service stores in Chengdu demonstrate value of trust

(ECNS) -- Various self-service shops have emerged in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province recently. Candy, flower, coffee shops, and bakeries operate without assistants.

In a self-service bread store on Niushikou Road in Chengdu, there is a small blackboard reading "Boss is not here. Take bread by yourself. Scan the code to pay."

There are more than 10 kinds of bread on the shelves with prices ranging from 5 to 20 yuan. Each bread is individually packaged with a label printed with the name, production date, storage method, and price.

"I bake fresh bread every morning, and the bread is usually ready by noon. I'll put it on the shelves and leave," said the store owner, Zhang.

Zhang will clear the inventory at night and put the unsold bread of the day into a 24-hour self-service vending machine, offering them for sale at a 50 percent discount.

Although the store is equipped with cameras, she rarely looks at them. "Since I've decided to do this, I need to trust it," she said.

The sellers trust their customers, while buyers respond with self-discipline.

The self-service sales model displays the value of social integrity. "Every day, when I check the inventory, I find that people are generally very self-disciplined," she said.

Li Zhengxi is the founder of a self-service dessert shop. In July 2022, he opened the first self-service dessert store in Chengdu, got a good market response, and decided to expand.

Currently, there are more than 100 branch stores across the country, with more than 30 in Chengdu.

Li contributed the success of this model to the city's civilization.

"The cost of a cup of sweet soup is only 5 yuan, but it's enough to prove people's integrity and honesty," Li said.

Surveillance cameras are installed in the store, but their main function is to help the manager run the business scientifically, such as restocking products when they are almost sold out, rather than monitoring customers.

In addition to the code, there is also a cash box in the store. Once, to her surprise, Li found a note in the cash box written by a student.

 "The student said that because he was short of one yuan, he took a cup of sweet soup today and would pay back the money the next day."

Seeing the note left by the student, Li deeply felt the value of trust, "This is the beautiful interaction of human nature," she said.