In the past few years, we have noticed changes in the designs of Romania’s major supermarkets. Kaufland, Auchan, Mega Image, Profi, Carrefour and now Lidl have all added new self-checkout lanes or moved the self-checkouts.
Auchan’s seemed most drastic, with most lanes in the supermarket having self-checkout capability. Yes, even the lines that have conveyor belts have self checkout capability, with a store assistant waiting on the side in case you need help.
Until recently, many Profi and Mega-Image stores did not have self-checkout capability. Now, you can expect self checkout at almost any small supermarket (although a few of the micro sized stores still don’t have one.)
Lidls still have cashier-only lanes for those paying with cash or pushing large carts, but even those have changed. They now have more space to put down your groceries!
It used to be that if you used a basket in the cashier-driven lane, you might not have space to bag your groceries. A few customers were putting full bags on the floor; others were pushing around carts just in case. Now, the area where you can bag your groceries has expanded to allow about three standard-sized bags.
This improvement means that those paying with cash can still use a basket to shop at Lidl.
Which brings us to another change that has occurred in the past few years. While Carrefour, Profi, and Mega Image still have the handy little hand-held baskets, the three other major supermarket chains seem to only offer large baskets with wheels. Auchan’s variety is taller than that of Lidl or Kaufland, but all are awkwardly large for those who might be walking home with their groceries. These larger baskets are more versatile than trolleys (or carts) and are easier to push around than small wheel-less baskets, but some other chains give their customers a choice of which kind of cart to use.
Auchan used to have a cool hybrid solution where handheld carts could be towed around in small trolleys.
That said, Lidl’s improvement in the cashier lanes is not the only improvement at Lidl. They also have larger self-checkout options, like you might find in Western European Lidls.
One thing we found hard to find in any shop was ice cream cones (standard sized, without the ice cream). We found smaller than normal cones, and we found cones with the ice cream already in them, but if you want to scoop your own ice cream it looks like you have to order from a B2B or maybe even order from outside of town. We will keep looking, and hopefully report soon when we find them.