Shopping in Germany is rarely described as convenient. Supermarkets are hard to navigate, payment methods aren’t uniform and customer service is disinterested. Is Germany a land of inconvenience culture and could that actually be a good thing?
All tagged Shops
Form a Disorderly Queue
Germany is seen as a land of punctuality and organisation. Although broadly accurate, there are areas where chaos is allowed to reign. Queuing is one such area. Why are German queues a contact sport and what does that tell us about the importance of timekeeping over organisation?
Inconvenience Culture
Shopping in Germany is rarely described as convenient. Supermarkets are hard to navigate, payment methods aren’t uniform and customer service is disinterested. Is Germany a land of inconvenience culture and could that actually be a good thing?
The Tyranny of Choice
Making decisions can be difficult, especially if we have too many choices. Germany might have the answer to decision fatigue, at least for consumer products, in the form of the consumer guide Stiftung Warentest. Can one company be trusted to give objective product recommendations or are the Germans incredibly naive?
Form a Disorderly Queue
Germany is seen as a land of punctuality and organisation. Although broadly accurate, there are areas where chaos is allowed to reign. Queuing is one such area. Why are German queues a contact sport and what does that tell us about the importance of timekeeping over organisation?
How to Shop in Germany: Supermarkets
Continuing our look at shopping in Germany, we investigate the supermarket. Are they all discounters? What is with the customer service? And why are robots trying to kill us?