The Average German Supermarket: Discounters and Rules at the Checkout

Let's go on a tour of German supermarkets, alongside the Average German, Michael Müller. Euromaxx reporter Clare Trelawny-Gower finds out what’s on the typical German shopping list, how the bread slicing machine works and why you need superhuman speed at the checkout ⚡️!

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:20 Walking to the supermarket
00:50 The discounter
01:14 The bottle deposit machine
01:41 1 million varieties of bread
02:57 The "regular" supermarket
04:09 Rules at the checkout

#Germany #AverageGerman #Supermarket
--------------------------------------------
CREDITS
Report: Clare Trelawny-Gower
Camera: Neven Hillebrands
Edit: Manuela Reuss
Supervising Editor: Mirja Viehweger

Michael Müller: Mischa Wanker

Special thanks to ALDI and EDEKA
--------------------------------------------
Subscribe to DW Euromaxx:

Would you like to find out more about Euromaxx?

DW Euromaxx brings you engaging insights into European cultures and lifestyles.

[tdb]

In Australia, we now have a few "have a chat with the cashier" queues and cashier queues where they are quicker. The slower ones are mostly for older people who like to chat with the person scanning their items. It's a cute idea. Sometimes older people can be a bit lonely and speaking to someone at the supermarket is good for them.

[Sillyalways]

Jesus, the "abandon all sense of order" when a new cashier is open, it is 100% accurate 😂

[wkoppe]

I think im a german from another country. Everytime I see a Video like this one I realize that they do exactly what I always did my whole life.

[ulliulli]

German here... 15 years ago I was in Ireland and visited a Spar market... the cashier was sooo slow for my taste. When it was my turn, she started to chat with me. She realized that I am a foreigner, so she asked where I was from etc. The cashier was also cute, so I enjoyed talking to her ;)

But: It took her about as long to scan the 5 items on the conveyor belt as it takes a German colleague to scan the weekend shopping of a family of 6 from 3 shopping carts.

I was on vacation in a “foreign” country, so I was very relaxed about this, also because the other customers weren't stressing. In Germany, this would have led to civil war-like scenes in the checkout area ^^

[PhiNics]

The whole point of being organized at the checkout is to be FASTER than the cashier. It is my favourite game and I win 7/10 times.

[ahsanfinance]

At the discounter check out :

1. Always get a trolley
2. Put heavy items in first.
3. Separate items that need to be weighed (bananas, ginger, tomatoes, etc.) and place each of these after 3-4 items from other categories. This will give you precious seconds while they are being weighed.

[StrikerEureka]

i lived in berlin for 5 months last year. it was such an experience to learn about their supermarket etiquette. when Michael "forgot something", i just KNEW it was the pfand!!! 😆😆😆 I had such a great time in Berlin. Can't wait to visit Germany again.

[RitwikShanker]

Pro Tip - Never try to pack stuff into the bag, always use a trolley/basket and just dump everything in there and pack at the Packing station.

[jannetteberends]

I’m from the Netherlands, and shopping is the same. Except for that bread, and we also turn in the drinking tins. I shop at the Lidl, it’s behind my apartment building. But I buy bread at the Moroccan bakery across the street, French oriented. A normal supermarket is a 10 minute walk. There is also the pharmacy. And 10 minutes on bike is a large shopping area with all kind of shops.
My neighborhood was built in the sixties, when it was mandatory to have shops on walking distance from each house. Old fashioned 15 minute city.

[newbeginnings]

One beer? Must be a fun Saturday night for him...

[Nobody_Atall]

Important to note that the voucher for „Pfand“ can be turned into cash again. You don’t have to use the voucher to shop in the store you returned your „Pfand“.

[jdvannoy]

Yes, another Average German video! Love these for the information and the humor.

[funnyfarm]

As an American, seeing cashiers sitting down was a bit of a culture shock the first time I visited Germany. That said, I like the idea and think companies should allow it in the USA.

[BernhardWelzel]

People seemed to have misread the "one beer" - this is a "Wegbier" (walking beer) so he survives from the shop to home.

Of course, otherwise he is using a delivery service to get a couple of crates delivered, or more likely: he is living in Berlin on top of a 24-7 corner shop that sells beer.

[ElizabethMendz]

The checkout speed at Aldi in the USA is not joke, they literally throw your items at the basket 😂

[MikeStevens]

Love this. I've only been in Germany for about two months, but Aldi in Australia has prepared me well 😂 I had no idea how perfectly German my shopping technique is!

[jamesdoyle]

We now have Aldi here in California. The whole store plan has been moved from Germany including the the sittig cashiers and the packing stations. The Aldi attitude is you people love our cars and you will learn to love our shopping methods.

[gamingtonight]

The world should adopt the plastic bottle deposit/refund system!

[mgsg]

The "Pfand" system is so great.

[thndr_]

It's always interesting seeing how other people live their lives. That bread cutting machine is awesome!