New supermarket openings - a revolution in quality - Munich

Just to let you know: there is an excellent new supermarket in Unterhaching now called Edeka / Simmel. Been there couple of times and its worth it! They offer an excellent range of products and the wine department is a paradise for those of you who are wine drinkers. There is also a huge fruit and vegetables section. Everything is really well presented and totally clean.

They also have self-checkouts - you choose if you want to scan yourself or if you need a shop assistant who helps you scanning or packing your products into free bags.

there are pictures of the store on www.simmel.de - go to "Entwicklung" and then "Bavarian store".

Check it out!

You mean this?

http://www.simmel.de/unterhaching.html

It's been open since November 2005. Self-Checkout sounds cool though.

Tried it and didn't like it. The stuff is all over the states and the lines are just as long as the manned ones. One question though: do the people behind you send stuff flying into your stuff like the cashiers do with the ultra small conveyor belts at every other shop?

No they dont. There is a separate paypoint in order to make quickly space for the next one..

The Tengelmann stores are also completely refurbished. The nearest new store to munich is Ottobrunn store. There have been several stores in Berlin already being converted into a completely new store design with more emphasis on fresh products, including a take-away counter.

www.kaisers.de - tradition and innovation - there you can find pictures.

Real near Frankfurter Ring has been offering self-service checkout for some time now, at least a year. It's ok...but they always have to have a few "floating" helpers cause many people can't figure it out...

Here are some pictures of simmel store.
Extra by Metrogroup also provides self checkouts and a good shop design.

I hate self-check out as a matter of principle. I ran into it in the states last year at Walmart and some hardware store and it drove me batty. If I wanted to do all the bagging myself I would shop in Germany.

And the self-check in at the airport (when you are tired, and have two young children in tow) more than pissed me off - long lines, no one to answer any questions, etc.

And when it comes down to it - they are saving on employees by making the customer do the work. (And a considerable amount, I've seen the numbers)

Shouldn't you get a discount for that? (rant over)

Didn't want to promote self checkouts- just some new supermarkets, because there has been a lot of discussion about awful stores here. I just want to give you some impressions-sorry! It seems that all the store which are opening from now on can't live without self checkouts...

Here is extra- big supermarket chain -by metrogroup, also running Galeria Kaufhof department stores, Saturn, Media Markt, METRO/Makro and real hypermarkets.

I like the self checkouts mainly because most people are scared to use them so the lines are much shorter..

However it is crap when you are stuck behind someone who thinksthey know what they are doing but does not

I dont know whatever happened to the Simmel self-checkout picture. The one above (obviously ) shows just the veggie- section. Well here it is again. As you can see there is a lot of space. They have also small checkout sections for a handful of things...

OOOOPS- SORRY !!! Here it is now...

Not to make this about self-checkout, but it is a concept that is part of a major change in focus for gocers (and retailers in general). Tesco started the trend of applying value-stream analysis (based on lean-manufacturing principles from the automotive industry) to grocery retailing.

The idea is to concentrate on the customer desire and to eliminate action that does not add value to the product. The customer wants the right product at the right time in the right quantity at the right price. This means focusing resources on ensuring that shelves are full, products are easily found, stocks are optimized and waiting is reduced.

Self-checkout gets the same work done at approximately the same speed as traditional check-out lines with less resources. The person that was checking you out before can now be assigned to labeling, stocking and customer service. You may not like it, but it's mostly a matter of getting used to it.

In a few years you won't even be doing that. You'll have RFID labelled goods that are automatically debited from your account as you leave the store. You'll bag them as you place them in the cart. Then you'll have a smart home that automatically replenishes goods that are staples and orders only the quantities needed for eating based on pre-determined menus (that you probably picked based on suggestions your home made since it knows your eating habits, diet goals, likes and dislikes and kids' allergies already).

There will be no more privacy, but think of the convenience.

RFID is already in the testing stages. I actually have less of a problem with that than with self-check out (as far as shifting the work from employees to consumer goes) since self-check outs save an average of 5 - 7 employees per self-checkout (depending on the store setup), where is the savings for me if I am doing the work of an outsourced employee?
Besides, I like people and like to see them keep their jobs instead of me having to do this.
RFID does not result in extra work for me, so that point is not a personal issue. The privacy thing is something else and a different can of worms altogether..

The point is not to outsource (outsourcing in grocery has more to do with stocking and logistics - you NEVER outsource customer service unless you want to ruin your business). The point is to assign the worker a task to do something that adds value to the customer experience (like helping you pick the right ingredient or making sure that you don't see an empty shelf).