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Child Item

Aldi and Lidl checkout system

Commotion Ocean

I regularly go to a local Aldi and Lidl and in principle, the queuing system is excellent.

Lob your stuff on the conveyor belt, move to end of the checkout, your stuff is quickly scanned through and you (just as quickly) put the stuff back into the trolley and pay.

Move to the preparation window sill things at the end and repack and organise there.

What p1sses me off about Aldi and Lidls here is that most people are organising and packing at the end of the tills.
The whole mantra of Lidl and Aldi is efficiency, which thus translates into cheaper goods due to less dwell time and wasted time. There is no justification to have more tills open in Lidl / Aldi if people just copped on and stopped packing at the till.

THAT'S WHAT THE WINDOW SILLS ARE THERE FOR :mad:

I've been to Aldi and Lidl in Germany and the Netherlands and you'll get dirty looks for holding up the system. People there actually respect the system there.

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MeatTwoVeg

I pack at till.
I'm fast and have the bags open in my trolley so I'm chucking stuff into the appropriate bag as opposed to into the trolley.
I use a large 3bag system.
1: Chilled or Frozen.
2: Fruit and Veg.
3: Everything else.

I certainly don't hold people up, I'm as quick as the checkout operator.

Give me Lidl anyday over Tesco. They never have enough checkouts open, and I find the majority of checkout staff to be slow and borderline ignorant.

Rubberlegs

I'm a ninja at the checkout at Lidl. Bank card/ cash in back pocket. I pack as the items are being scanned through, directly into open bags in trolley. I'm determined to be packed before he/she tells me how much I owe. I will not be beaten! I have yet to see anyone packing at the shelf in my local Lidl. I don't see the sense in essentially putting twice the work on yourself.

seenitall

Shenshen wrote: »

One of the (many!) reasons I avoid shopping anywhere other than Aldi and Lidl is that they don't provide any space where you can pack without holding up other people.

That's not true ?

Don't get me wrong, I am an extraordinarily slow packer, and consequently one of the lowly, contemptible window sill users in Lidl

but this gives me good insight in how other shops deal with my kind. Dunnes, for example, is great, they have really wide post-till packing areas, so I move everything to the far corner, and after paying, when I am still inevitably packing my stuff while the stuff off the customer behind me is being scanned, I have held no one up and everyone is happy. Same thing in Supervalu. The tills at Tesco actually have the least amount of space where you can pack in those circumstances comfortably.

Shenshen

seenitall wrote: »

That's not true ?

Don't get me wrong, I am an extraordinarily slow packer, and consequently one of the lowly, contemptible window sill users in Lidl but this gives me good insight in how other shops deal with my kind. Dunnes, for example, is great, they have really wide post-till packing areas, so I move everything to the far corner, and after paying, when I am still inevitably packing my stuff while the stuff off the customer behind me is being scanned, I have held no one up and everyone is happy. Same thing in Supervalu. The tills at Tesco actually have the least amount of space where you can pack in those circumstances comfortably.

Interesting - my local Supervalu and Dunnes don't have these packing areas, and I avoid both of them. Well, it doesn't help that both places smell pretty bad as well, and that they're expensive and the quality a bit dubious - as I said, I've got plenty of reasons for preferring Aldi and Lidl, but the speed and ease of their checkouts is one of them

Dyr

73Cat wrote: »

I'm a ninja at the checkout at Lidl. Bank card/ cash in back pocket. I pack as the items are being scanned through, directly into open bags in trolley. I'm determined to be packed before he/she tells me how much I owe. I will not be beaten! I have yet to see anyone packing at the shelf in my local Lidl. I don't see the sense in essentially putting twice the work on yourself.

Till Ninjas pay cash only

foggy_lad

jester77 wrote: »

You are all doing it wrong, forget your shopping bags. Trust me, I've being living in Germany over 15 years. The shopping bags will just slow you down, they collapse, most often you will need more than 1 so you will be fumbling to get the next one open, it's awkward to get certain items into them as they catch on the sides and so on. Too much lost time in the race to avoid having the next persons shopping landing on top of yours.

What you need is the collapsable shopping box, similar to this. You just leave it at the bottom of your trolley while shopping and once everything is loaded on the belt you give a quick flick of the wrists and you are ready to fill it. It is compact, folds out quickly and is much easier to carry and load into and out of your car, plus it won't fall over and let things fall out.

Then the secret is the place all the larger objects on the belt first and the objects that have a natural form. So fruit and vegetable would be last and can rest on top of the glasses and cartons. You will always be as quick as the cashier when you do this.

I can't really see that little box yoke holding €230 worth of Aldi shopping for a family of 9.

People who claim that they don't delay others at the till while they are packing their many shopping bags are either ignorant of the others they are delaying or they are only buying for 1-2 people, not enough to fit in even one large shopping bag!

By the time you get a weeks shopping into bags there is a Q behind you and the only way to avoid that is to be a good German and use the packing shelf provided or find that the next day you put all your shopping on the belt the staff immediately close that till:D:pac:

Rubberlegs

Bambi wrote: »

Till Ninjas pay cash only

. Or tap their card

seenitall

Shenshen wrote: »

Interesting - my local Supervalu and Dunnes don't have these packing areas, and I avoid both of them. Well, it doesn't help that both places smell pretty bad as well, and that they're expensive and the quality a bit dubious - as I said, I've got plenty of reasons for preferring Aldi and Lidl, but the speed and ease of their checkouts is one of them

I probably used a wrong expression. What I mean by the packing area is just the continuation of the till counter, where the till person ideally gently slides your scanned items toward you

I find this system much more convenient for a slow packer than the window shelf; however, I only ever shop for 10-15 items at a time so I can see how it'd be more annoying for most families who seem to have half the shop in their trolley. (I sometimes just pure marvel at these)

Atlantic Dawn

If I ever get on Dragons Den my idea will be for a sign at the start of the checkout Q which will say that when your groceries have been all scanned you then have to pay for them with cash or card at the end. The amount of people who don't seem to get this concept and seem a little surprised they have to root for their wallet/purse is shocking. I see a potential market of €389billion for my idea in year 1 :pac:.

Atlantic Dawn

Mister Vain wrote: »

The self service machines in Tesco are crap and the loading trays are far too small. The ones in Supervalue work much better.

The worst problem at the self service checkouts are those people who bring full trolley loads in to scan, takes all day, if they like the scanning so much they should drop their CV in for a job. Trolleys should be banned from all self service checkouts, defeats the purpose as it clogs the entire system up and space around them.

meeeeh

foggy_lad wrote: »

I can't really see that little box yoke holding €230 worth of Aldi shopping for a family of 9.

People who claim that they don't delay others at the till while they are packing their many shopping bags are either ignorant of the others they are delaying or they are only buying for 1-2 people, not enough to fit in even one large shopping bag!

By the time you get a weeks shopping into bags there is a Q behind you and the only way to avoid that is to be a good German and use the packing shelf provided or find that the next day you put all your shopping on the belt the staff immediately close that till:D:pac:

I buy for four. I always pack at the till and I am always finished when they ask me for cas or card. If I think I wont be throw everything in the trolley and finish at the window. I have to do that maybe twice per year. It's not hard you just have to arrange stuff on the belt in order it will be going in the bags and have bags open and ready. There is no point for someone like me clogging window space but I will useit if I am unable to keep up with the cashiers. I actually stopped shopping in Dunes because their cashiers are so slow. In Tesco I use self service as much as possible so you don't get stuck behind someone buying tv and trying pay with a cheque.

duffman3833

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

The worst problem at the self service checkouts are those people who bring full trolley loads in to scan, takes all day, if they like the scanning so much they should drop their CV in for a job. Trolleys should be banned from all self service checkouts, defeats the purpose as it clogs the entire system up and space around them.

I go for lunch in tesco odd time and people with trolleys full going to self checkouts, i only want a sambo and have to wait for these ignorant people. shouldn't be allowed no more than 10 items. I also think this should be setup in lidl but managed by limiting items. Id often go in just to get some of the special buys and id have to queue with the trolleys mainly, there are some people who are nice enough to let you go ahead of them but lidl need self checkout

foggy_lad

meeeeh wrote: »

I buy for four. I always pack at the till and I am always finished when they ask me for cas or card. If I think I wont be throw everything in the trolley and finish at the window. I have to do that maybe twice per year. It's not hard you just have to arrange stuff on the belt in order it will be going in the bags and have bags open and ready. There is no point for someone like me clogging window space but I will useit if I am unable to keep up with the cashiers. I actually stopped shopping in Dunes because their cashiers are so slow. In Tesco I use self service as much as possible so you don't get stuck behind someone buying tv and trying pay with a cheque.

So instead of dithering at the till you dither on the belt as you try to manage placement of your shopping so as not to delay yourself at the till?

What about all the shoppers behind you who also want to unload onto the belt but are prepared to do it the intended way and load the belt then load their trolley at the till and then load their car or bags at the special packing shelf?

One reason I stopped going to LIDL was they are too much like other supermarkets now pandering to customers and wiping their arses with special dividers on the tills as well as selling more and more branded items which are rarely cheaper than other supermarkets!

Aldi/Lidl were like Ryanair, the no frills supermarkets, but Lidl are slowly moving towards the Aer Lingus model.

murpho999

foggy_lad wrote: »

I can't really see that little box yoke holding €230 worth of Aldi shopping for a family of 9.

People who claim that they don't delay others at the till while they are packing their many shopping bags are either ignorant of the others they are delaying or they are only buying for 1-2 people, not enough to fit in even one large shopping bag!

By the time you get a weeks shopping into bags there is a Q behind you and the only way to avoid that is to be a good German and use the packing shelf provided or find that the next day you put all your shopping on the belt the staff immediately close that till:D:pac:

Well amazingly enough, like shopping bags, you would use more than one and then all your shopping would fit in them.

Used them when I lived in the Netherlands, they work fine. Just don't fold up as small when not in use, so not handy for carrying to shops etc.

Only of use to if you have a car, not great if you have to walk home to shop or use public transport.

foggy_lad

murpho999 wrote: »

Well amazingly enough, like shopping bags, you would use more than one and then all your shopping would fit in them.

Used them when I lived in the Netherlands, they work fine. Just don't fold up as small when not in use, so not handy for carrying to shops etc.

Only of use to if you have a car, not great if you have to walk home to shop or use public transport.

How many will you get opened in your average sized Aldi/Lidl trolley? Continental supermarkets have barge-like trolleys available which would easily take a few of these crates or the wooden tea chests:D

harr

If it's the big shop I pack at window sill if its only a basket I throw it into the bag...I have no problem with people packing at till if they can keep up but it's the people who take the piss with how long it takes them to pack that bugs me ...bags not ready, food not put on belt in order to be packed and then looking for card or counting out loose change and nearly ever week without fail I stuck in the wrong queue 😡

foggy_lad

The Rathmines Aldi have had baskets for years but for years you could not bring the basket past the till because obviously they were walking out the door! That left people at the end of the till with their bags and having to pack their bags at the till. now they allow the baskets through the tills and everything works so much faster as people very sensibly pack at the shelf and those who try to pack at the tills get told no, you pack at the shelf!

somesoldiers

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

If I ever get on Dragons Den my idea will be for a sign at the start of the checkout Q which will say that when your groceries have been all scanned you then have to pay for them with cash or card at the end. The amount of people who don't seem to get this concept and seem a little surprised they have to root for their wallet/purse is shocking. I see a potential market of €389billion for my idea in year 1 :pac:.

I'm in

somesoldiers

murpho999 wrote: »

Well amazingly enough, like shopping bags, you would use more than one and then all your shopping would fit in them.

Used them when I lived in the Netherlands, they work fine. Just don't fold up as small when not in use, so not handy for carrying to shops etc.

Only of use to if you have a car, not great if you have to walk home to shop or use public transport.

how did you find the winkelwagen? I always laughed when I heard that word

meeeeh

foggy_lad wrote: »

So instead of dithering at the till you dither on the belt as you try to manage placement of your shopping so as not to delay yourself at the till?

I don't dither and I don't delay people. Don't judge everyone else by your own inability.

FanadMan

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

In Finland they've had that system for years......even the tiny corner shop has them and they are brilliant. When Lidl opened first, they objected to the dividers but had to install them in the end.

Would love to see them in supermarkets here but would mean less tills as they are wider than the normal checkout areas. But then again, most supermarkets only open a fraction of their checkouts anyway.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

foggy_lad wrote: »

So instead of dithering at the till you dither on the belt as you try to manage placement of your shopping so as not to delay yourself at the till?

What about all the shoppers behind you who also want to unload onto the belt but are prepared to do it the intended way and load the belt then load their trolley at the till and then load their car or bags at the special packing shelf?

It doesn't take much time to quickly unload the things on the belt in the order you want you usually have plenty of time to do this anyway especially if its busy as belt is usually moving slowly enough so you aren't holding up anyway.

Also who says your way is the "intended way" and also what is your major rush that you can't lose a minute or two at a till so people can pack their stuff away in a far more sensible way at the till than at some shelf.

I'm in Aldi every week and I probably see 1 person in 100 using the shelf so you would in fact be very much in the minority using it not the majority like you appear to think. There is no way I'm messing around moving stuff to a shelf, I pack at the till as items are being scanned its the most efficient and sensible way for me to do it and I will continue to do it this way.

Titzon Toast

dbagman wrote: »

how hard is it to have your empty bags open in the trolley ready to go? I always pack at the till. whats the point in putting the stuff in the trolley twice?

That's what I do too. I've yet to meet a checkout person who can get the stuff through quicker than I can pack it.

sesswhat

You're ahead of the game.

You've put the bread and cookies to the back.

Your card is out of its wallet and held in your left hand.

Bags are all gaping and ready.

Your hands swoosh back and forward and as the last hovis is placed on top, you're card is poised and ready.

Only one last thing can make it perfect.

Must - get - card - out - before - they - tell - me.

Both watching our screens intently.

Come on.

Come on.

Come... NOOOOOOOO!

0.2 seconds before 'Please remove card' appears on screen, I hear the smug b******d:

"You can take your card out now!"

Ush1

Jenny Deafening Topaz wrote: »

It doesn't take much time to quickly unload the things on the belt in the order you want you usually have plenty of time to do this anyway especially if its busy as belt is usually moving slowly enough so you aren't holding up anyway.

Also who says your way is the "intended way" and also what is your major rush that you can't lose a minute or two at a till so people can pack their stuff away in a far more sensible way at the till than at some shelf.

I'm in Aldi every week and I probably see 1 person in 100 using the shelf so you would in fact be very much in the minority using it not the majority like you appear to think. There is no way I'm messing around moving stuff to a shelf, I pack at the till as items are being scanned its the most efficient and sensible way for me to do it and I will continue to do it this way.

Interesting, had a less patriotic change of heart?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93615149&postcount=233

Alun

sesswhat wrote: »

0.2 seconds before 'Please remove card' appears on screen, I hear the smug b******d:

"You can take your card out now!"

That's only in Lidl IME. If you look very carefully at the display on the cashier's till you'll see that the message comes up on his screen just before the customers' one. Same goes for the "You can enter your PIN now" 0.2 seconds before your screen tells you to. Very irritating though, I agree.

Almost as irritating as the "cash or card" thing at Aldi when you're already standing there card in hand,

Alun

Titzon Toast wrote: »

That's what I do too. I've yet to meet a checkout person who can get the stuff through quicker than I can pack it.

I must introduce you to the sour faced Polish woman at the Lidl I go to, who almost sees it as a challenge to scan everything as quickly as she can and get as much stuff piled up at the end of the till as possible, even pushing stuff out of the way to make room.

I should add I'm a window sill / car packer so I'm just putting stuff back into the trolley without breaking or damaging anything, but this woman is so annoying I'll even go to a till with a longer queue just to avoid her.

sesswhat

Alun wrote: »

That's only in Lidl IME. If you look very carefully at the display on the cashier's till you'll see that the message comes up on his screen just before the customers' one. Same goes for the "You can enter your PIN now" 0.2 seconds before your screen tells you to. Very irritating though, I agree.

Almost as irritating as the "cash or card" thing at Aldi when you're already standing there card in hand,

LIDL yes, the dice are loaded in their favour and you can't help but feel they savour it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Ush1 wrote: »

Interesting, had a less patriotic change of heart?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93615149&postcount=233

Sweet lord, you bother to stalk a user's 15000+ posts for one 2 years old? Creepy!