Shopping at a supermarket or discount store is not a pleasure for everyone. The hustle and bustle in checkout lines, especially at peak times, causes stress for many people.
Purchased products should be quickly put into the shopping cart or shopping bag so that customers behind do not have to queue too long.
Dealing with customers: a Lidl employee shows the rules
Even if things have to be quick at the checkout, kindness should not be neglected. It's always about how the customer should interact with the employee at the supermarket checkout, but cashiers also have clear rules when dealing with customers.
This is explained by the employees of a Lidl branch in North Rhine-Westphalia on the TikTok platform. In a video, a Lidl cashier recreates everyday situations at the checkout and explains what rules must be respected.
In total, it presents eight rules for dealing with customers. They are:
- “Pass the dividers.”
- “Maintain eye contact and greet the customer in a friendly manner.”
- “Always offer the customer without a shopping cart a shopping cart chip.”
- “Open another cash register on time.”
- “It shows customers which box is about to be opened.”
- “Ask the customer to put down the bottle.”
- “It opens the customer's shopping bag so they can pack more quickly.”
- “If something is not fresh, let the customer know.”
While some rules are very common, others catch the attention of TikTok users. The video has been commented on more than 500 times.
“Do we still want to bring the purchase to the customer's car?”
It seems that some points are worth discussing. “And then customers who can't even say hello, goodbye, thank you or pay by card,” complains a user who apparently works in retail.
On the other hand, the etiquette rules clearly go too far: “Do we want to carry the customer's purchases to the car?” she asks angrily. She is obviously not alone with her opinion. Your comment receives 700 likes.
But customer friendliness also leaves a lot to be desired: “Well, then I would like customers to greet me kindly. “That's a rarity,” said one user.
“I don't find anything more unpleasant than eye contact.”
One rule in particular seems to be causing a lot of irritation. The Lidl cashier suggests establishing and maintaining eye contact with customers. “I think there is nothing more unpleasant than eye contact, which is why I love these ATMs,” admits one user. The eye contact rule also doesn't seem to go down well with retail employees: “I feel like I'm saying my four sentences and I get overwhelmed when customers go off script,” one of them agrees.
It seems that both parties, supermarket employees and customers, still have a lot to learn. However, as the video and the comments show, one thing is essential in treating each other: kindness.
By Eva Gneisinger (for example)