“Click and Meet”: Shopping by appointment - but is the federal emergency brake coming soon?

In some places there is still the option of “Click and Meet” in many shops.

The federal states regulated it differently in some cases - but will a federal emergency brake soon take effect?

Update from April 14, 2021:

The federal cabinet decided on Tuesday to change the Infection Protection Act.

The aim is a nationwide

emergency brake

.

Among other things, with a higher incidence, for example, many shops and the leisure and cultural facilities as well as the gastronomy should not open as a rule, as the German Press Agency reported on Tuesday on the occasion of the cabinet decision.

However, the Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to give their approval.

Next week, the changes will first be decided by parliament and then passed by the Federal Council.

In some countries and in the opposition in the Bundestag, there was sometimes clear criticism.

Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) said, according to dpa, the

rules for retail

are unacceptable.

Shopping with “Click & Collect”

must generally remain possible even with an incidence of more than 100.

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Government approves Corona emergency brake - Bundestag still has to decide

Update from April 13, 2021:

According to 

 the German Press Agency (dpa), the

cabinet

 decided

on Tuesday 

amendments to the Infection

Protection Act, which temporarily give the federal government more rights of intervention.

However, the Bundestag still has to agree to this, and the Bundesrat will also have a say in the matter.

What should change with a 

federal emergency brake

 : If the 

7-day incidence

 (infections within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants) exceeds the threshold of 100 on three consecutive days,

stricter measures should

 apply

there from the day after next 

, reports dpa.

These should remain in force until the 7-day incidence falls below the threshold of 100 on five consecutive days - then the extra conditions will expire on the day after the next.

For shopping, such a federal emergency brake would, 

according to the dpa, if it takes effect,

mean that

Shops or markets with customer contact would have to close from such an incidence.

Exceptions are then the food trade including direct marketing, beverage markets, health food stores, baby stores, pharmacies, medical supply stores, drug stores, opticians, hearing aid acousticians, gas stations, newspaper sellers, bookstores, flower shops, animal and feed markets and garden centers.

However, these should only sell the usual range.

Limits should then apply to the permitted number of customers depending on the sales area.

In closed rooms, customers would have to wear an FFP2-level mask or a medical mask.

Such a possible federal emergency brake is still being debated in the Bundestag.

Find out more about the latest developments here.

Federal emergency brake has met with sharp criticism in retail

The

federal government's plans for a tougher lockdown in retail with high corona incidence

figures are met with sharp criticism in the industry.

The managing director of the German Trade Association (HDE), Stefan Genth, told the German Press Agency: "It is hard to understand why the Federal Cabinet, contrary to scientific findings, decided to tighten the Infection Protection Act at the expense of the retail trade." low risk of infection.

Also read:

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"Click and Meet": Is it possible to shop with an appointment in the future?

Update from April 9, 2021:

Surprising turnaround in the corona strategy of the federal and state governments: According to a report by the German Press Agency (dpa), the next round agreed before Easter by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) with the state premiers .

Instead, the infection protection law is to be sharpened in an urgent procedure, as the deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer announced on Friday according to dpa in Berlin.

The aim is to create nationwide uniform regulations for regions with high numbers of infections.

The change should be decided by the cabinet in the coming week.

Its meeting will be brought forward from Wednesday to Tuesday.

So far, the regulations in the federal states are still quite different - that should change due to the nationwide uniform regulations.

Update from March 30th:

In view of the third corona wave, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) emphatically reminded the federal states of the agreed

corona

emergency brake

.

This was reported by the German Press Agency (dpa).

With a

7-day incidence of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants on three consecutive

days, easing steps should actually be withdrawn.

If the states should not take the necessary measures, the federal government could also act, Merkel indicated, according to the dpa.

Will this warning work before Easter?

According to the report, the current regulations and plans in the various federal states are still quite different.

Do you still have “Click and Meet”?

Or just "Click and Collect"

It is best for everyone in their city or region to find out about the current shopping opportunities.

Depending on the incidence situation and the applicable regulations, shopping with appointment allocation ("Click and Meet") is still possible in many shops in some places, in other places, for example, only via "Click and Collect".

Also read

: Are hairdressing prices rising now?

Corona lockdown extended

"Click and Meet": Shopping with appointments possible depending on the city and region

Update from March 26th:

In cities where the

incidence

values ​​allow it,

the “Click and Meet” offer will also be available

in many shops

in the coming days

.

In other words:

shopping with appointments

.

However, in regions where the “emergency brake” applies due to the high incidence values, shopping with an appointment is no longer possible.

In some shops,

“Click and Meet” (or “Call and Meet”) works in

such a way that you can find a phone number in the shop window or another option on site to contact and register.

If you have a little patience and wait, you will often be assigned a time slot quite spontaneously in this way.

Shopping: Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday no rest days

Update from March 24th, 5.45 p.m.:

After Angela Merkel's decision 

not to

reduce shopping

opportunities to a minimum

on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday

, representatives of the trade reacted with relief.

And many customers should be happy that these two days have not been declared as days of rest after all.

Update from March 24th, 11:51 am:

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) decided after massive criticism

to stop

the federal-state

decision on the so-called Easter rest

.

Merkel announced this on Wednesday in a briefly convened switch with the prime ministers of the federal states, as the German Press Agency (dpa) had learned from several participants.

The reason for the decision, as dpa further reported, was that too many follow-up problems would have arisen if Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday would have been declared rest days - as decided.

According to the dpa, Merkel was quoted as saying by participants in the completely surprising round with the state heads of government that the cost and benefit were not in a good relationship.

You can read more about the current development and the statement by Chancellor Merkel here.

Update from March 23rd:

In supermarkets and discounters, customers and operators have to be prepared for a bigger rush on the Wednesday and Saturday before Easter.

The reason is the planned

closure of the retail trade on Maundy Thursday

by the federal and state governments

.

It is part of the resolutions for

additional days of rest around Easter

in order to slow down the spread of the corona pandemic, as the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Retailers, on the other hand, demand that all shops be reopened and that hygiene concepts are strictly adhered to.

In the non-food trade, the lockdown, which has been going on for three months, is leaving deep marks.

A good every second retailer of clothing, shoes and leather goods see themselves in danger of bankruptcy.

"Emergency brake": Many shops have to close again in corona lockdown

However, the federal and state governments emphasized that it was necessary to

consistently apply the

“emergency brake”

agreed at the beginning of March

.

It should take effect if the

7-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants

in a country or region is

over 100 new infections on three consecutive days

.

Then, as the dpa describes, the

restrictions that were in force until March 7th will

apply again from the second following working day

.

According to the latest decisions, further openings should only be made if the 7-day incidence is below 100 and stable or falls.

In addition, the federal and state governments had decided to extend the already applicable corona lockdown until April 18.

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"Click and Meet": When is it possible to shop by appointment?

After Easter

, Merkel and the minister-presidents, accompanied by

intensified testing

and the progress of the vaccination campaign, will again rely on

gradual easing

, as

reported by

Sueddeutsche.de

.

According to the dpa,

Bavaria, 

for example, wants to

relax

the

corona rules for retailers

after the Easter holidays

.

Then

store openings with a hygiene concept should

already be possible with an incidence below 100 in the rural or urban district.

That said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on Tuesday after the meeting of the Bavarian cabinet, as reported by the dpa.

So far, the limit for this in the Free State is 50. The minimum distance, mask requirement and a limitation on the number of customers are retained.

With an incidence between 100 and 200 in Bavaria after the Easter holidays

,

shopping

called

"Click & Meet"

should be possible

with an appointment with a daily negative corona test

and stricter

requirements for the number of customers

.

So far, "

Click & Meet" is allowed in the incidence range between 50 and 100

, as reported by the dpa.

Also read

: Higher hairdresser prices due to corona lockdown?

Affected report

Corona lockdown is to be extended to April 18

Update from March 22nd:

Before today's meeting of

Chancellor Angela Merkel

(CDU) and the

Prime Minister

, the pressure of ever higher corona infection numbers dwindles hopes for larger further openings at Easter time.

According to a report by the German Press Agency (dpa), a draft resolution from the Chancellery for the Bund-Länder-Round is based on an

extension of the lockdown until April 18

.

In addition, the

emergency brake regulation adopted

at the beginning of March must be

"implemented consistently".

According to the dpa, the draft also contains a passage that

provides for

further tightening for districts with more than 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week

due to the exponential growth

.

The complete passage is in square brackets, which means that it has to be negotiated because it is particularly controversial, as dpa also wrote.

In other words: A decision is still pending.

"Click and Meet": Shopping with appointments in danger?

What happens next with the

“

Click and Meet”

shopping offer

in retail

- that is,

shopping with appointments?

The

emergency brake

would have

concrete consequences for

citizens

, as the online portal of

Manager Magazin

am Sonntag described such a scenario: under these circumstances, many shops would have to give up their “Click & Meet” operations.

And that is exactly what has met with criticism from many companies.

You ask to keep the appointment shopping.

At this point, many customers will also be curious to see what the Chancellor and the Prime Ministers will decide on this Monday.

Writing from Tedi, Kik, Takko, Ernsting's family, Butlers, Thalia and Co.

As

reported by

tagesschau.de

,

several large retail chains had

warned in

advance against withdrawing the limited, only recently valid

shopping

opportunities: In a joint letter from eleven retailers - including Tedi, Kik, Takko, Ernsting's family, Butlers and Thalia - it said, The trade should not be blamed for the increasing incidence.

The opposite is the case, as can be seen from the example of Hanover and Thuringia: "The incidences there have risen significantly in the last few days - without the retail trade opening," said

tagesschau.de

in the letter.

Overall, the situation has drastically reversed since the most recent federal-state round at the beginning of March, as dpa describes: At the beginning of March, the main focus was on a step-by-step plan for possible easing - but not as a one-way street.

At that time, a mechanism was also set back to restrictions: The "

emergency brake

" should be pulled if the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days in a region or in a country rises above the threshold of 100 on three consecutive days.

Today it is to be decided how

things will

continue

for the

retail sector

,

for example

.

"Click and Meet": Shopping with appointments in the corona crisis

Article of March 4:

The debate about

easing the

deal

for further

business

in the

corona crisis

* concerns politics and the economy - and above all the people who are affected by it.

For this purpose, some new regulations were decided at the federal-state meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on March 3rd: In principle, the existing lockdown will be extended until March 28th.

However, depending on the infection situation, there should be many 

opening options

 in

retail

give.

Gradual opening of the retail trade in the corona crisis

After the first openings at schools and hairdressers, as reported by the 

German Press Agency (dpa) 

and 

Spiegel Online

 , 

 bookshops, flower shops and garden centers will follow in a second step

from March 8th

.

In individual federal states these are already open (for example the garden centers in Bavaria), according to the dpa this should now be 

permitted nationwide

 .

The prerequisite is that 

hygiene concepts 

and a customer limit are adhered to.

According to

Spiegel Online, the 

third opening step looks like 

this:

Federal states with a seven-day incidence of less than 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants could then

 initiate

the 

opening of the retail trade

.

According to

Spiegel.de

, the number of authorized customers would be adapted to the size of the sales area 

.

"

Restricted openings can, however, already exist with falling or stable incidence values ​​of less than 100," reports the portal.

"Then federal states can open the retail trade with prior appointments."

"Click and Meet": Shopping with appointments in the corona crisis

That means: If the

seven-day incidence is between 50 and 100

, the retail trade is only allowed to open to those who have previously

booked

an

appointment

, as the

AFP

news

agency

writes: "This

concept, called '

Click and Meet

', provides for that a customer is allowed to go into the store for 40 square meters of sales area for this appointment shopping - provided the period is limited and the visit is documented for possible contact follow-up. "

“

Click and Meet

”, as

AFP

describes it,

could be of interest to consumers

, especially when they

need advice

.

Because with the previous "Click and Collect", ie the picking up of previously ordered goods, this is not allowed.

To book the appointments, it is advisable to look up the retailer's website, write an email or simply call them.

According to

AFP, the

trade association HDE had

meanwhile criticized that “Click and Meet” could not save most dealers economically - because personnel and operating costs are often higher than sales.

“Click & Meet”: Rhineland-Palatinate started on March 1st

Shopping with appointment allocation:

Rhineland-Palatinate was the first federal state to announce that

it would make

appointment shopping

possible

from March 1st

, as the

Tagesschau

reported at the time.

According to

the report, Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) had previously stated

that this is an

extension of the “Click & Collect” regulations

and “a perspective for clothing stores and bridal wear shops, for example”.

A household may enter the shop by prior agreement.

A mask must be worn and the obligation to record contacts applies.

In other federal states, too, the “Click & Meet” concept could now help with the opening strategy.

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Opening of the first shops in the corona crisis - the situation in Bavaria

When and where in the corona crisis, which shops could reopen in the future, also depends on the regulations of the respective federal state.

In

Bavaria

, since March 1st, other so-called body-hugging services can be offered again in addition to haircuts by hairdressers.

This also includes

foot care, cosmetics, manicures and facial

care - everything that counts for body care and hygiene.

In Bavaria,

garden centers, flower shops and hardware stores have also

been allowed to reopen since March 1st.

Also read

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"Click and Collect": Service in the shops

Also applies in Bavaria since January 11, which was allowed earlier in some other states: About

"Click and Collect

, customers in the

Corona crisis

at participating

stores

goods

over the Internet or over the phone (" Call and Collect ")

at normally closed shops order - and

pick them up

there

personally

after an appointment has been made

.

In compliance with the strict hygiene requirements;

Customers also have to

wear

a

mask

.

Many shops offer this service for free, but some larger chains such as

Ikea

charge a fee for it.

(ahu) * Merkur.de and wa.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA.

For further reading

: Click and Collect: Order online, collect it yourself - Corona lockdown by March 7th.

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