Cities and towns in German offer a great choice of shopping facilities and experience. Shops in Germany have everything one could possibly wish for – from fresh, locally grown vegetables on street markets to low-price home furnishings, right through to luxury articles that are “made in Germany”.
Shops and Supermarket in Germany
For your everyday needs, you’ll find small shops and supermarkets such as baker’s and butcher’s, in residential areas. To purchase fashion clothes, household goods, and electrical equipment, many Germans travel to the town centers, where there is plenty of choice of shops, especially in the main shopping streets. In contrast, large furniture stores, electrical goods stores, and shopping centers are often located just outside the town or city, but with large car parks and good bus or train connections. The supermarkets for food and other everyday goods can be found both in town and outside urban centers.
Shopping trolleys and its deposit system
Many supermarkets, as well as some smaller shops, put shopping trolleys at their customers’ disposal while they shop. to prevent the trolleys from being stolen, a system was introduced a few years ago where the “loan” of shopping trolleys in Germany is based on a deposit system. The chain that joins one shopping trolley to another can be released with the aid of a €1 or 50 cent piece, or a token. You can chain the trolley back up and get the deposit back after you complete the shopping,
Deposit system for bottles
A deposit is charged on numerous drinks containers in Germany. That means that you pay a small amount for the container you buy, which is refunded when you return it. the deposit is mandatory for most non-re-usable drinks containers, such as cans and non-re-usable glass and PET bottles. It costs 25 cents. the deposit for most re-usable containers costs 8 or 15 cents. The empty containers can usually be returned to any shop that sells drinks in similar containers. You can find further useful information about the German deposit system here.
Street markets
Apart from shops, there are street markets too from where you can buy fresh foodstuffs such as fruit, vegetables or meat.
Online shopping
Buying online is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. More than half of Internet users order goods or services over the Internet. If you order this way and receive goods that you don’t like or which are damaged, that’s no problem. You can usually return the goods within 14 days without having to provide any justification. For your own security, always read the legal notice of online shops you are not familiar with.