As you can likely imagine, going to the grocery store when you don’t speak the language can be a bit daunting to say the least. Then you add to that the regional differences – flavor, cuts of meat, etc. and it can get overwhelming quickly.
Thank goodness for Google Translate. I am not sure how people made these moves in the past without the benefit of such applications and technologies.
The whole act of grocery shopping is also different. At the two largest grocery store chains near our house, Albert Heijn and Jumbo, you can use your discount card to unlock a hand scanner and then take it around the store scanning items as you go and placing them directly in your bag, which you brought from home of course. Then when you arrive at the checkout, you choose a self-checkout register and insert your scanner into the docking station. This uploads your purchases to the register, and you simply tap your debit card and leave. Yes, I said that right, your debit card – no cash at the self-checkout. How do they prevent theft you ask? Well…first off it is just less of a problem over all, if you haven’t read my post about living in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood you should, but secondly they have random checks. The remind me of the SSS tag you sometimes get at the airport, which indicates you have been selected for additional secondary screening. When they spot check your groceries, the cashier comes and randomly selects and scans 5-6 items from your bag. When the computer dings that means they have decided it’s enough and the register will now let you pay.
Honestly, I like the self-scanning option. It makes grocery shopping into a bit of a game. But I can see why some people might not. Rest assured, if you want to use cash or just not do the scanning yourself, they still have real cashiers.
Much has been written recently about Jumbo’s creation of so called ‘chat checkouts.’ The idea is that at these lanes, clearly marked with the sign ‘kletskassa’ (which literally translates to chatterbox), the cashier is not focused on checking you out as quickly as possible, but rather doing so while having a conversation. The idea came from a government program to combat loneliness, particularly in seniors. Apparently these kletskassa lanes have been rolled out in 200 stores. I have yet to see one, but I will remain on the lookout. What a great idea. And if you don’t want to take your time, just head to another cashier or the self-checkout lanes.
Red, White and Tulips 