Unbelievable Efficiency: GERMAN GROCERY STORES 🤤

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[LovisPlatz]

As a regular Aldi visitor, the lack of efficiency shown in this video about efficiency really bothers me. 😂 I would never put the groceries in the bag at the checkout, you take a cart to shop and first put all the groceries back in the cart at the checkout, only at the designated packing station or at the car you put them in the bag to speed up the check out for everybody else.

[jonasholzer]

As a German, the concept of having someone else pack my groceries for me ist extremely uncomfortable. I can easily do that myself, would I just awkwardly wait till they're done. Also Id probably always start feeling bad for them, cause that sounds like the least stimulating job ever

[sarahogrisseck]

As a cashier at a grocery store in germany I can confirm we all get to sit down.

And the best way to pack your groceries is this: Sort them on the conveyor belt first. Unbreakable items at the front and fragile at the back. Have your IKEA bag strapped open in the front of your shopping cart. Place cart into the cutout at the receiving side of the register. Then the cashier can just quick slide all the unbreakable items into your bag without your need to help. Only step in and help once the fragile stuff starts coming. This saves time and effort as the cashier doesn't have the strain to slow the heavy items down after scanning them!
Also the card payment gives the cashier some well deserved moments to relax. Waiting for the payment to come through we can flex our shoulders, relax the muscles for a moment and just take a breath.

[classiclife]

Packing groceries at the checkout is a race, and I am ready for it. I've been training since I was able to help my mom pack the groceries to become an absolut pro, the cashier can't stress me - I'm faster!

[BiaZarr]

Never underestimate the speed of an experienced German cashier. Like, the fastest are usually the older ones, who did this for years. I've seen some of them scan things so quickly, that the cash register couldn't keep up. You better get a shopping cart if you have to deal with one of those, because if you try packing at the cash register, you feel really awkward as the items pile up with ridiculous speed. I swear, they scan so fast, they could probably catch bullets of the air.

[McArid]

German here... to keep up with the lighning speed of the cashiers, you need to place a "speedbump" in the middle of your groceries. For me it is often a bag of mixed pastries/bread rolls, so the cashier has to take it in the hand, count and type everything in manually. During that time, I can catch up with putting stuff away before the storm starts again and he/she starts throwing my stuff at me... Plus: I pay only with card and hate everbody counting coins in front of me. Oh, and have your store app or payback card at hand already when approaching the cashier. My wife ain't german and she totally struggles with that, lol

[k.schmidt]

The stuff in the glass jar could be pesto verde. This is even easier, if you buy bags that STAY OPEN (because they attach to the shopping cart to stay open)! With bags like that, you are faster than the cashier with the scanner. 😁

[Talon_]

I feel this speedrun can be optimized:
1a) Using a shopping cart is usually a winning strat, put groceries in there and handle them while not in the critical zone.
1b) If you're in a city biome, there's an increased chance for no bagging area after the checkout. In those cases, either use Biggest Bag Method like in the video, or have multiple tote bags. Hang them on your forearm near your ellbow, and have the second handle of the frontmost bag at your wrist. That way, it should be as open as possible. If a bag is full, store it on the floor and pull up the next bag handle to the wrist.
2) Have your groceries on the belt in such an order that it can be easily processed. Group multiple items of the same kind together, so the cashier can simply press the "3x" button. Have heavy and insensitive items first, such that soft items come on top of them, not below.
3) Baked goods and goods that must be weighted, like vegetables, come at the very last. This gives you extra time to catch on of you started to lag behind.
4) For Any%Cashless runs, have the card ready before checkout starts; have it loose in a pocket or in the bagging area or similar. If it is visible to the cashier, they might already conclude the payment method early. In Cardfree runs, have your money bills be sorted in ascending order in your wallet. In Precision100%Cardless, your coins should also be sorted in some way.

[theseasideplanner]

Cashiers in grocery stores all get a chair. You are able to buy bags in the shops, but most people just reuse their own ones

[felixwillmann]

I think almost every casheer has a chair in Germany, not just Aldi. :D
Bakeries don‘t have one because they pack bread in a bag from a display but that‘s the exeption.
Love your Content! :)

[Carol_]

Before scanners, the cashiers at Aldi memorised the prices of everything. There were no price stickers on the items, just on the shelves. It was amazing (and I actually think it was somehow faster.)

[somethinggreatishappening]

I worked at ALDI and I can confirm that ALDI employees do tend to go fast when checking out items. Our store managers also get a list to monitor how fast we go and how many items we can check out per minute. If you're too slow, they will tell you to speed it up.
Also, you can always make conversation with chatty customers, but even if they aren't chatty, there's always time for a warm "Good morning" and "Bye. Have a good day!".

[connycatlady]

Hi. About the chair at the cashier: we always have them, at all supermarkets ;-).
The first item on the band might be a pesto, for a pasta meal. You find it bizarr to pack your items yourself ? We`re used to it. And we bring our own bags. At home we collect our bottles in that bag, bring them to Aldi to get the deposit and at the cashier we put our items in that bag.
About paying : we pay with a debit card, not credit card.

[Loreizia]

It's not just Aldi. Mom used to work at Lidl and her speed got measured how fast she scanned items per minute. They also had a minimum speedlimit to fulfill for the job.

[stephenlee]

UK Aldi is similar, but tends to use trolley/cart. You unpack cart onto conveyer, move cart to other side of checkout, cashier rings items through, you replace them in trolley, pay, move cart to packing area, pack your bag from the trolley into your own bag. you can buy bags at the cashier.

Sitting down for cashiers in UK and most of Europe (I believe) is normal/ a right, sometimes they stand but they have to move the chair.

Bags in UK must be bought, its to reduce plastic waste, most people bring their own reusable bags.

[Patrick-dmir]

The most stressful thing is, when you mess up because something (like a pizza box) is stuck with the handles of the bag

[eastfrisian_]

We have a cashier at our Aldi in the village, estimated in her mid-50s. Always very fast and friendly, I like her very much. One day I was not quite so fit at the checkout and had particular trouble packing everything away in time. Then the cashier told me with a grin that in the central warehouse the times are recorded by each employee how many items are scanned per minute and she had received trouble during the week because she was supposedly too slow. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and just said "They're nuts!" 😂

My father worked at Aldi over 40 years ago before I was born, back then the goods were just driven into the store on pallets, the boxes ripped open and just left there. Each item had a four digit number called a PLU and each cashier had to know all the items by heart and type them in and once a week the store manager stood behind you with a stopwatch. My father still knows the PLU numbers for the basic foodstuffs today 🤣

[steemlenn]

Don't forget the Tetris-like mind game where you place your wares on the band in a way that maximized the time utilitization. For examples bananas are always last, the cashier has to weight them. Use that time to pack what came before and grab your wallet. You can hold it in one hand while taking the bananas from the now finished cashier with the other.

As for the seats, yes, those are everywhere. My local Edeka has a standing row though in case the cashier wants to stand.

[chrissiesbuchcocktail]

In Germany cashiers always sit while working. Sometimes you come across one who stands (personal preference) but those also have a chair and can sit at any time.
And most people bring own bags but the stores have bags to buy.

[McGhinch]

Cashiers sit. Packing fast is easy if you have your mind in order: 1. You put your purchase in packing order on the belt. 2. Your bag is ready and has the correct size. 3. If my bag is complicated like a backpack -- it doesn't stay open -- for instance, put everything back into your shopping cart and pack your bag somewhere else.
I usually have a folding box in my car and I put everything in there.