The system there is supposed to work as follows (to be honest, I probably wouldn't know if I hadn't read about it): There's a green light above each checkout stand. When the green light goes on, the next person is supposed to go that checkout stand.
From what I've noticed, the green light goes on before the previous customer leaves the checkout stand. Therefore those who know how it works and pay attention to the lights walk up to the checkout stand with the green light, while the others don't and end up waiting too long.

I too find this to be troublesome, especially at places like Manor, where there is a single counter of registers. When the single line becomes long and an additional clerk opens a register, the one-line protocol falls apart.

Not really a Swiss store phenomenon, though. I have had to say, "I believe I/he/she was here first" many times in the US.

ECB, this too shall pass! I would never be able to successfully order my stuff in my cart or when bagging it if I was accompanied by toddlers!!

One day you will ask your tweens or young teenagers if anyone might want to go to the grocery with you (just in the interest of just a bit of company) and you won't find any takers (that's where I am now).

It's that unavoidable parenting phenomenon of always wishing your children were at the next milestone, "growing them up" quickly, then once they get there looking back and wishing you had enjoyed those earlier stages more. Enjoy each day as it comes and goes, ignore the grumpity people in the grocery lines, and know that one day (sooner than you suspect) this grocery shopping issue will not be as stressful or problematic as it is today.

ECB, I feel for you!

When I shop with both kids, I put the little one in the caddie seat, and she usually finds a granny to smile at or something. The older one gets one of those mini caddie for kids, and 'helps' carry the stuff. I'm blessed with quiet kids, so that helps a lot.

As to the packing organization, well, that's a talent combined to long practice lol. I have one bag for the heavy items that don't go in the fridge, and one for the fridge items. I know how to organize my stuff on the belt. If you start with the big bulky things, you can pack them first and it leaves free space for the rest.

Pffft... Only a very uptight and miserable person would expect people to hold up the entire line by paying first and then starting to pack.
Of course these are the same people who will then complain if you're not packing fast enough for their liking. You see the pattern, their lives are miserable and their enjoyment is to imagine themselves to be so much better than others

Don't even give it another thought, pack as they scan just like the great majority of us do.

The thing that does get people irritated, ok at least it does to me, is not being ready to pay and everyone has to stand and watch while people dig out their wallets and then think about to use card or cash

Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong. I've lived here almost seven years and I have ALWAYS packed my groceries and stuff as the cashier rings them up (if my husband is with me, he does the packing), or I've packed for friends when we go shopping together, and nobody has ever said a word to me. I would think in a busy supermarket, the people behind you would appreciate you packing up as quickly as possible and moving on to make room for the next person.

Just ignore such idiocy next time...

Goodness! Why care what the person ahead of you is doing regarding pay / pack and why care what people behind you think of what you're doing? The only person I care about how they think is the cashier... and it's one of the reasons why I love, love, love the (relatively) new Coop at St. Johann Banhoff / Volta Center.

They are friendly and can be chatty when it's not too busy, they are helpful, they take note that I'm standing with my Supercard out while they're scanning things, scan it, then go back to scanning groceries AND the spot where groceries go as they're scanned is roomy enough to allow for pay-then-pack method in most cases.

I'm a bit particular about how things go into the bag so yep, I unload my basket or cart in a way that allows for heavy and bulky to go in first, followed by stuff that doesn't matter if it gets crushed a bit, with anything that does matter going last. Alas, cashiers don't always scan them in the order they're laid for whatever reason AND they aren't always too fussed about letting them slide down to the end with eye toward protecting delicate things, so I am one of those pay-then-pack types. Otherwise at times I'd have my liter of oj after my bananas and gipfeli. (Hubby and his mother used to get annoyed at my non-crush packing habit, now they just get out of the way and leave me to get on with it.)

Thanks guys! The sympathy is appreciated.

But in the interests of fairness I feel I should point out it is really more my inadequacy in the unpacking/packing department than the fault of the boy. He stays in the trolly, (but then often starts to wail so that certainly doesn't assist the stress levels).

I actually think I have lost even before I've begun, as the conveyor belt is so small that I can't fit all my shopping on it, so cashier starts to scan things through whilst I am still waiting for space to unpack trolly onto conveyor belt. By the time I get to the other end, the bagging area is already chock a block! I must buy less stuff. THAT is the answer.

But really, I can't see myself wishing for these supermarket trips back again ...

Last year at my local Coop they hired students every Saturday to pack the shopping for us. The guys were doing quite a poor job of it (in my opinion), just putting stuff in the bags without thinking about weight vs crushability...

I actually spent time explaining to one of them how to intelligently pack a shopping bag... He must have thought I was totally bonkers

My father once watched a high school student at the local store doing things like putting eggs on the bottom of the bag, followed by canned goods, etc. He just looked at him and said "They must pay you from the neck down." Suffice it to say, the cashier laughed so hard it took her a minute to recover. And still we had to explain it to him.

I can second the experiences of many of you when fellow shoppers all of a sudden seem to desperately run to the front of the queue regardless of any known obstacle as if it were a matter of life and death.Well, no matter how primitive it may seem , I'm pretty certain there is no ill will intended, it is just an accepted behavior in Switzerland, when it comes to Supermarket check outs, the fastest one to realize there's a new cashier opening, is the one who called dibs. There is no disrespect intended, it's just a different social convention than in most countries. ;-)
Yet, I've recently had a few very pleasant experiences at the migros cashier. When shopping with my 7 year old daughter,almost always, the people paying at the cashiers ahead of us or just behind us, will always give their animanca stones to my daughter. Such a kind gesture :-)

Pack as the items are scanned. But be ready to pay as soon as the last item is scanned, even if you haven't finished packing.