The new year 2021 brings numerous changes - also when shopping in the supermarket.
Consumers must now adjust to this.
Aldi
*,
Lidl
* and Co. - when
shopping
for consumers,
some changes
are pending in
2021
.
VAT
,
plastic
bans
and the
Corona
* crisis will bring some noticeable changes in shopping.
Dealers
in the
city centers
have presented their
hygiene
concepts and hope that they will be able to sell again soon.
Kassel - New Year, New Luck, is the motto on
New Year's Eve
.
While the turn of the year was a
little quieter this time across Germany
due to the
Corona crisis, one
thing remains the same: Not only can 2021 bring new happiness, but as always, a lot will change for
consumers
at the beginning of the year
.
This is also the case when
shopping
in the
supermarkets
- consumers there will clearly feel some changes.
Here is
an overview of
the most important
changes
at
Aldi
,
Lidl
,
Edeka
* and Co. for the year 2021.
Shopping in the supermarket in 2021 - the mask requirement remains for the time being
Initially, there will be no change in the areas of
mask requirements
and keeping
your
distance in the supermarket.
The current
Corona Protection Ordinance
applies at least until January
10, 2021
.
But even beyond this date, everything will not be back to normal, according to
focus.de
, retailers, who are more likely to
assume that
the corona
measures
will be extended, do not expect that
.
On January 5, 2021, Federal Chancellor
Angela Merkel
(CDU) and the country leaders
want to
discuss the coronavirus situation and the
lockdown again
.
Click-and-collect for retailers?
Purchasing in 2021 will be associated with changes
Currently,
all
shops
in the
city centers
that do not meet daily needs are closed.
However,
despite the closure
, the
offer
is expected to
expand soon, as
Focus
reports.
Some dealers have already presented a
hygiene concept
to enable sales via
online orders
with pick-up at the local branch - the so-called
click-and-collect system
- Ikea had already advertised it in the first lockdown in spring - but it costs Service at the Swedish furniture store an additional fee.
Should the retailer's hygiene concept go through, shops in the city centers could resume operations * - but this pick-up service is not allowed in every federal state -
Bavaria
,
Baden-Württemberg
and
Saxony
currently prohibit such regulations, as
reported by
ruhr24.de
.
Changes to shopping in 2021 - online grocery retailing will be expanded
In addition, the
online business will
continue to boom for retailers
due to the ongoing
Corona crisis
.
There is also growing competition for
Aldi
,
Lidl
and Co. in the food sector. The
Picnic
food delivery service is planning
to expand further in Germany.
But new providers also want to try their luck in Germany.
Dr.
Oetker
has taken over the delivery service in a bottle and is planning to expand it further, just like
Amazon
is planning
to expand
the delivery service Amazon Fresh.
Change in 2021 in the supermarket: VAT will rise again - it will be more expensive when shopping, won't it?
For July 1, 2020 was in the wake of
Corona pandemic
, the
value added tax
from 19 to 16 percent and reduced for certain products from 7 to 5 percent.
The aim was
to promote
consumption
in the ongoing crisis
and thus
strengthen
the
economy
.
But on Saturday, January 2nd, 2021, this VAT reduction will expire - the normal tax rate will apply again and shopping in the supermarket will be more expensive again.
Or maybe not?
Experts already expressed the assumption in December that the two
discounter
giants
Aldi
and
Lidl were
preparing for a price battle - there was even talk of a discounter war from January.
+
Value added tax, plastic bans and much more: Consumers will face many changes when shopping in 2021.
(Symbol image)
© Sven Hoppe / dpa
Price war due to the rise in VAT?
- The state apparently makes a huge minus in 2020
This assumption is based on a simple circumstance: the two
discounters
have to
raise
the statutory
VAT
again, but at the same time want to be the cheapest providers.
So it could amount to as suspected, experts fear that so many
price
despite again normal value added tax of 19 percent still remains lowered.
But the dealers' new brochures show that both
discounters
will
pass
the
VAT increase
on to their
customers in
full
.
Since numerous dealers and service providers have passed the reduced
VAT
directly on to their customers, the return to the old tax rate should generally be clearly
felt in
consumers
' wallets.
Incidentally, experts assume that the slump in consumption during the
Corona crisis
in combination with the tax cut will result in the state losing around 40 million euros in VAT in 2020.
Changes in the supermarket in 2021: single-use plastic will be banned
There
will also be some fundamental changes
in the range of
discounters
and
supermarkets
this year: Further
changes
for 2021 will affect straws, disposable cups and the like, because from July 3, 2021, the production of
single-use plastic will be
banned throughout the European Union.
The EU member states had already agreed on the plastic ban in December 2018.
The
ban
is intended to help
curb
the masses of
plastic waste
in the environment and in the world's oceans.
In addition, more should be recycled.
To this end, 90 percent of plastic bottles in all member states are to be collected separately by 2029.
It is also planned that by 2030 all PET plastic bottles in the EU should consist of at least 30 percent recycled plastic.
The following products are
affected by the
plastic ban
on EU territory from July 2021:
Disposable plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks)
Disposable plastic plates
Plastic straws
Plastic cotton swabs
Holding rods for balloons
Products made from oxo-degradable materials such as bags or packaging and fast-food containers made from expanded polystyrene
The
EU
even goes one step further, because
a new regulation has
also been adopted for the costs of carelessly discarded
plastic products
.
The
polluter pays principle
will apply in future
.
With this, the EU wants to make the manufacturers of plastic products more accountable.
For example, the cost of disposing of cigarette butts - the filters of which are made of plastic - as well as plastic fishing nets lost in the sea will in future be borne by the manufacturers.
Changes to purchasing in 2021: A retail giant disappears
The year 2021 will also change the
supermarket
landscape in Germany.
The
Real
retail chain
will disappear from the cities.
Real's online presence and shop will continue under the
Kaufland
name in the future
.
In February 2020 it became known that the Real parent company
Metro
AG was selling the ailing supermarket chain to the Russian financial investor SCP - 34,000 employees feared for their jobs.
It also became clear early on that the chain would be broken after the sale.
In future, numerous
Real
stores will continue to operate under different names.
Just recently,
Kaufland
and the medium-sized wholesaler
Globus received
the green light from the competition authority to take over 92 (Kaufland) and 24 (Globus) of the more than 270 Real stores nationwide, as
reported by
businessinsider.de
.
Purchasing in 2021: Kaufland is gradually taking over Real stores
Kaufland
has announced that it will gradually take over the stores in the first quarter of 2021, reported the German Press Agency (dpa).
However, some of the
Real
stores will probably continue to operate under the previous name Real, but how many that will be exactly have not yet been determined, reports
focus.de
.
In addition to Kaufland and Globus,
Edeka
has also
registered interest in 72 Real locations
with the
Federal Cartel Office
.
The procedure is currently still ongoing - the deadline for a decision has been extended to February 22, 2021.
(Diana Rissmann)
* hna.de and ruhr24.de are part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Sven Hoppe / dpa