If you have the option, do you use the cashier or the self checkout line at the grocery store? What about other types if store like hardware stores?
If you have the option, do you use the cashier or the self checkout line at the grocery store? What about other types if store like hardware stores?
You’re not supposed to bag at the checkout at Lidl (or Aldi or any of those operating on a similar European model).
I’ll repeat that: You’re not supposed to bag at the checkout.
You’re supposed to pile all the stuff back into your trolley / cart as fast as they scan it, then you head to the shelf at the back to bag the shopping at your leisure.
That’s why that shelf is there.
This can get awkward if the shelf is already fully occupied, in which case you’ll have to wait for a spot to open up, but since most people don’t know how this works, the shelf has always been free whenever I’ve needed it, so you might have the same experience. (Anyone in a big rush would be keeping up with the cashier anyway.)
The only real problem with this system is making sure that soft and breakable items that were likely on top don’t end up getting squashed or broken as you hurriedly put everything back into the cart in the wrong order.
Your that Lidl has a separate shelf is fair enough, they are a bad example. However, you still are rushing to put things back in the basket and, like you mention, depending on scan order making sure things don’t get broken is annoying. Also, other supermarkets do not have that separate space so you still are rushing to put your stuff in bags.
Ultimately, you still can’t take your time like you can with the self checkout. You just go up, scan stuff, then put everything away.
At my local Aldi (Ohio, USA), I just put boxes into the new cart (where they put everything after it’s been scanned) before they start. Normally, they’re happy to put things directly into those boxes. Boxes are free, durable, and (at least for me) a lot more convenient than bags. Even moreso for the million plastic bags I would get elsewhere.