American reacts to 'Why Walmart Failed in Germany'

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Why Walmart Failed in Germany
Original video: • Why Walmart Failed Mis...
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[@PurpleSoulstice]

It's not true that Germans don't like being smiled at by strangers. Quite the opposite. We just don't like being greeted with a fake smile and certainly not when shopping. If we need information, we look for a sales clerk ourselves. For the employee, it's also a waste of time to greet us with artificial friendliness, as they usually have other things to do. It's a typical American thing.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Agreed. I like these moments where you have a connection with a stranger over something shared or a small courtesy, but this "I am contractually obligated to smile at you" is a totally different thing; I think it's part of this "We Are All One Big Happy Family Here" shtick which is a sure foreplay to "stay home just because you're sick to your teeth, but how can you do that to the team????" blackmail. And seeing how busy most employees at Aldi, Lidl or the likes are, why on earth would I want them to interrupt their work every single time somebody enters their 10 feet radius?

[@Londronable]

As a Belgian, 100% I've greeted people with a smile when I felt like it. I greeted people without one when I didn't. It's about sincerity. Don't bullshit me basically.

[@MasterGhostf]

Even in America its not appreciated. Its incredibly annoying which is why most retail in America don't do that.

[@philipschroeder5427]

I always have a hard time already when I go to the bakery, and they do not let me look at the wares but right away ask me what I want. Just let me look, I will look you in the face and ask questions, when I want something.

[@MacFree557]

As a German, I agree. But I imagine, for most foreigner is our behaviour a bit rude. A french friend of my always complained about how he greets people on the streets with a smile on his face and most of the time they don't even greet him back. For him it was just about being polite. But for Germans it's more like: Why should I greet you if I don't know you?! We Germans don't like overly friendly people.

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

The Walmart cheer is too strange for Germans. We like friendly People, but not false Smile.

[@siloPIRATE]

From the UK, it’s strange here too

[@Ace-Of-Spades---]

Here's what it looks like. If you are smiled at here, you can assume that it comes because the person wants to smile and not because he has to.

[@joanneczka9843]

Agree. It's creepy. In Poland we do not like false smile as well. Walmart didn't even try to open stores in our country.

[@tobiasmuth2372]

It has to come from the heart and be honest. No rules!🥰

[@juliameyer10313]

Also we do smile at strangers but not an american smile. Don't show teeth to strangers

[@josephjanitorius797]

As an American who has lived in Germany for 25 years now, the one thing I have come to appreciate about the Germans is their emotional honesty and their knack for not tolerating bull manure. They find our American friendliness, cheerfulness and "niceness" to be insincere, superficial, and signs of a fundamentally dishonest and untrustworthy person. Walmart didn't do their homework before they moved in here. They arrogantly just assumed that the American approach would win over even the biggest doubters. I checked out a couple of the Walmart stores here and they were a sad sight, with merchandise scattered in the aisles and almost no customers. McDonald's and several American pizza chains, in comparison, have been relatively successful here. Their products are largely the same as in the US, but their personnel and store layouts adhere to German or European expectations.

[@lyc0h]

In France, american fast food even make a point on focusing on national food products. You know where the meat come from, only FR/EU. Mostly FR. You know where the vegetable come from too. Seasonal burgers often include typical french products (french cheese, or the contested "Mc Baguette lol) but at least they try. And this is why they are successful. We tell them we don't want products overloaded with sugar ? Fine ! Our mc Donalds meal are 2X or 3X less loaded with sugar than US one. We tell them their drink make children obese ? Fine, do you like theses aromatised sugar free sparkling water instead ? It seems that Wallmart DESERVED the failure here.

[@reqz16]

die zeiten sind vorbei dass war mal ende 90er anfang 2000 so seit anfang merkel zeit hat sich die alte doch vor onkel sam tagtäglich gebückt und deutschland immer mehr in die hände sams gegeben

[@josephjanitorius797]

@@lyc0h That's refreshing to hear! When we start losing distinct cultures, the world becomes a very boring and lifeless place.

[@D4BASCHT]

@@josephjanitorius797 McDonald’s does that everywhere. Compared to US McD the German McD also sells Coca-Cola Light, Red Bull, carbonated water, more kinds of tea, hot chocolate, lion topping for ice, strawberry and chocolate cake, muffins, donuts, croissants, nutella, strawberry jam, butter, McToast ham&cheese; oat milk and lactose-free milk for McCafe; water, capri sun, apple slices and cheeseburger for Happy Meal; Big Ceasar Chicken Salad, Snack Salad Classic (side for normal menus and happy meal), McRib, Big Tasty Bacon, Chickenburger (sweet-sour sauce), McPlant (vegetarian burger) and McPlant nuggets (vegetarian nuggets). And McChicken has a different bun. They rethemed from red to green. For now they gave up on vegan burgers and left that field to BurgerKing and specialized restaurants. They offer deposit hard-plastic cups for hot and cold drinks, mcflurry and mcsundae due to regulations. If I understand it correctly throw-away cups and lids are made from paper and paper straws got removed.

[@marcusnolte7476]

To be honest, almost all retailers who tried their luck in China ran into the same problems.

[@marsa74]

I watched several videos addressing the Walmart disaster in Germany but, if I remember correctly, all of them have missed another important issue. At least, middle-class Germans follow an " Excellence by Specialization" culture. If a pizza delivery service also offers Turkish, Indian, and contemporary German cuisine, my fellow Germans do not believe they are dealing with the Kwisatz Haderach of Chefs but with someone who read multiple cookbooks lacking experience, heart, and soul. A grocery store offering car spare parts, electronics, and more falls into the same category.

[@OmegaToth]

upvote for dune reference

[@marsa74]

@@OmegaToth Great, you recognized it 👍

[@mep1111]

It is true i have never bought a pizza at a kebab place and if i want a kebab i will buy from a place that sells nothing else.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

We want the Unix philosophy: "Do one thing, and do it right"

[@ogerpinata1703]

You gotta know your stuff. Even all these things are too much already. If you are the best around, they will come to you and nobody else.

[@Erdbeerschorsch2011]

The idea to buy my car tires in the same shop where I buy my vegetables somehow doesn't feel right.

[@dasbertl]

And as it is an american company, and especially a very suspicious one, some could even expect their tires to be more healthy to eat than the vegetables they offered

[@lld4ae]

@@dasbertltrue

[@tygattyche2545]

Well, that is not too different from some german retail stores. Some Marktkauf and Famila stores for example are "Vollsortimentler" and you buy car tires and motor oil there.

[@dasbertl]

@@tygattyche2545 and yet they are struggling everywhere when there is some more specialised competition in the same region

[@p3chv0gel22]

​@@tygattyche2545tbf those feel weird too

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

Wir hatten mal Walmart. Die haben damals einen anderen Supermarkt bei mir gegenüber aufgekauft und schon das Personal war überrascht. Sie sollten plötzlich vor der Arbeit ein Gruppenmeeting zur Motivation machen. Das waren Leute, die in dem Gebäude unter verschiedenen Besitzern immer ihren Job bestens gemacht haben. Dann verschwanden erstmal viele bekannte Marken aus dem Sortiment. Statt dessen wurden auf der Fläche hässliche, billige Klamotten und Schuhe angeboten, die niemand haben wollte. Walmart ist mit einer Milliarde Dollar Verlust aus Deutschland wieder gegangen.

[@const2499]

Zurecht, dieser Amerikanische Hardliner Kapitalismus kommt nicht an gegen Firmen wie Trigema als Beispiel. Chefs die ihr Herz bei der Firma und Angestellten hat ziehe ich immer vor. Habe in einem Familienunternehmen gearbeitet und sobald ich fertig bin mit meinen Schulungen suche ich mir ähnliche Betriebe oder gehe wieder in die Heimat zurück. Hoffe das die Mentalität sich wieder in Deutschland stärkt ^^

[@nickeling2776]

@@const2499 Lass die Inflation noch ein wenig weitergehen und wir werden auch dem billigsten Scheiß hinterher rennen, siehe Primart.

[@Orbitalbomb]

interessant. War auch in Karlsruhe paar mal drin. War mir zu groß.

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

@@scottanderson7239 thanks for Germans Translation. For longer text, i use the language, i was grown up whith and let do Google the rest.

[@skloodzi]

´The another supermarket was Wertkauf.

[@KahoriFutunaka]

*taking notes* "Walmart had no idea how the German consumer market functions, tried to implement a cult which reminds me of a mixture of Scientology and the Stasi (GDR secret police) AND did not give a f about the worker's rights we have fought and died for since at least the mid 19th century. When it all backfired they made a surprised Pikachu face." ... did I get that right?

[@Shilorius]

exactly right.

[@TerrariaLp1]

just shows how fucked the US market is when people like that are suprised they cant pull that shit somewhere else

[@Bhavyo]

nice 😄Isnt it astonishing? the level of ignorance for such a billion dollar company.

[@astaubach01]

Right. And today many people are able to learn from the walmart´s failure. Elon Musk for example.

[@cobaltdrache3805]

General rule in germany: If someone greets you in a public space, gives you a fake smile and aproaches you, they usually try to sell you something, you don't want.

[@Vollification]

Or is deranged

[@insu_na]

Another thing that contributed to Walmart's failure in Germany is that walmart forces their cashiers to stand. Something like that would fly in the US maybe, but in Germany that's an absolute outrage. Cashiers have a hard enough job as it is, and then also not allowing them to sit when they want or need to is cruel and unusual punishment for... working... That got a lot of backlash from customers and also led to significant employee turnover

[@karstenbursak8083]

Sitting cashiers that don't Flash smile at customers ? .... that's communism ! 😂😂😂😂

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

@@karstenbursak8083 Die beliebteste Mitarbeiterin bei Walmart St. Pauli damals hatte schon mehrere Besitzerwechsel überstanden und war bekannt für ihr flapsiges Mundwerk. Fast, wie die Verkäufer auf dem Fischmarkt. Das genaue Gegenteil, was Walmart Geschäftsführer erwartet haben, aber nach einer Abmahnung haben die Kunden sich den Geschäftsführer kommen lassen und ihm klar gemacht, dass sie genau das wollen. Offene ehrliche Ansprache und kein falsches lächeln. Danach konnte sie wieder weiter machen und wurde gezielt bei Aktionsware eingesetzt. Danach wurde auch das Morgenritual abgeschafft und die Begrüßer.

[@ache4342]

Sadly thats not tge case everywhere. I worked for a gas station under the brand ARAL a while back. They most certainly force you to stand whenever you are in the room with the cash register and the products. And since there are always not enough employees its almost impossible to get a break and sit down for more than 2 minutes

[@hamdepaf6686]

@@karstenbursak8083 give me more of that communism than ^^

[@karstenbursak8083]

@@hamdepaf6686 what exactly? 20+ days paid vacation ?

[@Leader7353]

You have to think how these weird chants before work and practices of spying on other workers looked like to people who were there during the nazi regime and when the soviets controlled parts of germany. That was the vibe they got from Walmart

[@voyance4elle]

that's a good point :)

[@schauseil187]

The Nazi regime was almost 80 years ago. The people who witnessed this are now pensioners or dead. But you are right that we have many unions here that protect employee rights and are not particularly squeamish when it comes to striking. In addition, personal rights are much more enforced because employers cannot simply fire you. The fear of being fired is much lower in Germany than in the USA. In addition, your existence will not be destroyed if you suddenly become unemployed. The state covers the costs if you are not able to work for a longer period of time and you don't just lose your insurance.

[@Leader7353]

@schauseil187 I was talking about the people in 96 to 06, not today's generation

[@silkwesir1444]

Same thing with Scientology, nowhere in the world people are so critical and cautionary about them as in Germany.

[@schauseil187]

@@Leader7353 ah. okay. my bad.

[@n.n.7668]

We had one of the first walmarts where I lived in the 90s. My best friend's mom worked there from the start. But there were a few things that made everyone go out of their way to NOt shop at Walmart. For starters, Walmart put up cameras in every corner of the store. They soon explained to people that that wasn't to watch what you are buying but to watch their employees which in turn made everyone mad at Walmart for spying. On top of that, there weren't many brands that were known to people. Washing detergents, soap, shampoo, bread... Most people are set on a certain brand here. Then slowly reports surfaces about how employees were treated. My friends mother didn't have much of an education so she was stuck there but everyone who had an option left. We would often go to Walmart after school to wait for her to get off work. She had to work overtime with no notice, she was exhausted from standing all day, her breaks were cut short, she wasn't allowed to drink water on the job, and she didn't even get much of a discount on things. Students who had hoped for a student job were scheduled to work during school hours. Senior citizens were asked to work a few hours were then scheduled to work full time, losing their pensions. We sometimes bought American snacks there but, it didn't make much sense. Also: walmart had a huge parking lot out front but in the city most people would take the tram or their bikes so now with that huge plot between the tram station/bike stand and the store people were to carry their bags longer distances which was just stupid, take the tram one stop further and shop at Aldi's where you can enter the store from the tram. And Walmart had dumb shopping carts that weren't at all practical, just big. Walmart tried to reason that they treated their employees the same as their American employees but it's not like that helped their case. I mean you telling me you are a bad person everywhere doesn't make you a good person anywhere. We were just baffled that they didn't understand their own words.

[@lucykitsune4619]

"No but you don't understand we can get away with it in America, clearly that must mean we can get away with it anywhere!" ~ Walmart

[@haukenot3345]

That issue about not respecting people's other commitments or the legal framework of their employment seems wild to me. To have seniors work overtime, effectively costing them their pension, should definitely be illegal!

[@n.n.7668]

@@haukenot3345 I'm not sure if it is. But people kept quitting their job at Walmart so they had quite the turnover and everyone was warned that if you are looking for a job, go look anywhere but with them, so they were always short-staffed and in the end it was pure chaos. When they put everything on sale before closing, there were no shelves stacked, it was all in boxes and there were rumours about a rat infestation (I don't know if that one is true because the city would have acted if it was, but it kept people away quite effectively)

[@kotzpenner]

Sounds illegal af at parts, especially the forbidden drinking water, student school time work and pensioners. Glad they closed, that’s borderline criminal.

[@Finsternis..]

@@kotzpenner Nowadays they'd be a feast for the employment office. A company that keeps losing enployees is always on the look for new employees so that workless people can be coerced into working there on the threat of losing benefits, so the employment office can run their "people put in employment" rate up.

[@financemadesimple_official]

Hi Ryan, thanks so much for reacting to my video and I'm really glad that you enjoyed it! My video started to get an influx of views and I was trying to figure out where they were all coming from and then I ended up finding your video here. I actually took a German Culture course in college and we talked about this topic as a case study in class. I've always been interested in business and finance, so the story of how Walmart's business approach failed in Germany always stuck with me ever since. It legitimately is a textbook case of what not to do as a business when expanding to other countries!

[@Micha-qv5uf]

I actually saw your video some time ago already. Can't believe it has only 500 views. Its very good content and very well made.

[@autinerd]

It's a really good video (the Cheddar video of the same topic from quite some time ago was not really good made, they themselves didn't really understand what really the reasons were). And I think it's interesting that Aldi in contrast is getting more and more popular in the US.

[@financemadesimple_official]

Thank you very much for the kind words everyone! Yes, it is very interesting how well Aldi has been doing here in the United States. Anecdotally, about a third of the people I know seem to do at least some of their grocery shopping at Aldi now. The prices are really good there.

[@pedrobotero8542]

​@@financemadesimple_official I guess Aldi is doing well in the US because they have a lot of practise. Aldi-Süd is in the USA since 1976, Aldi-Nord since 1979 (when they bought Trader Joe's)... This year Aldi-Süd will buy the companies Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket...

[@ellenhofrath]

A lot of reactors have your video.

[@LexusLFA554]

In Germany we have something called the PANGV (Preisangabenverordnung), which states that something can not be sold under the price it was bought at. Walmart did that, and paid for the costs (hah)

[@const2499]

Verdient xD

[@tillneumann406]

Sorry, but the lawyer in me cannot let this stand as it is. The rule is in section 20 paragraph 4 (§ 20 Abs. 4) of the Competition Act (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen aka Kartellgesetz). And it is by no means unequivocal but only applies to enterprises (like Walmart) with superior market power as compared to small and medium firms, and even those are allowed to "occasionally" sell goods below cost price. But at any rate, the law is so complicated that rather than try to explain it, let's just suffice it to say it is definitely not the Preisangabenverordnung.

[@LexusLFA554]

@@tillneumann406 Wow

[@stefanw7406]

In Germany, it is forbidden to sell products below cost price. Walmart has done exactly that to undercut the competition.

[@zeazevedo]

Same in Portugal and, if i'm not mistaked, is the same all over EU. It's called "dumping" here in Portugal and it's considered to be a very illegal anti-competition practice.

[@IcemanVienna97]

It is forbidden in the most EU-countries under the law against unfair competition .

[@stefanw7406]

@@zeazevedo thx for the information. is Walmart in Portugal? I have only been there for a week and did not see a Walmart.

[@stefanw7406]

@@IcemanVienna97 durch deinen Namen tippe ich dass du Wiener bist. Gibt es Walmart in Österreich?

[@silkwesir1444]

How do they do it with inkjet printers then? It's the razor and blades model...

[@lapisinfernalis9052]

I remember a Walmart from when I was still little (about 5-7 years old). I did not like to enter the market at all, because the staff was smiling and "wanting to help" all the time. It freaked me out. In addition to that the stories about the chant were also frightening on a completely different scale, because it reminded many older workers of the Nazis and their chants. For me it was just a place of a nightmare in a nice box.

[@carstennsfw]

Exactly that. I remember the Walmart near me from my late teens in germany. I was absolutely weirded out. The subjective resemblens to the nazi cult (as we go over in school a lot with all its horrors) was conspicuous to me. Of course it was nowhere near similar, but that was the first impression it made for me. For US citizens you can compare the first impression it made for us germans would maybe compare to your impressions you get, when you watch documentations including undercover footages of sects and cults (e.g. The Peoples Temple). Of course they are not the same. But when you see/experience something for the first time, you tend to compare it - and that was, what it came closest to. And then again: the product range. Mega stores were never really a thing in germany, and super stores were relatively new back then. Super stores were mainly food, produce, toiletries and entertainment. If we wanted e.g. shoes, we'd go to a specific store just for shoes. If we wanted everything close by, there would be a large mall somewhere in or near larger cities. And now suddenly, you every a small variety of everything in a huge store. But mostly cheap stuff in large quantities, you would not need. It was just a weird and off-putting experience, that made me never go back there. And everyone I talked about Walmart back then had the same or at least similar experience.

[@UnkownWonders]

Denke nicht das ich da am leben war wenn das da war. Aber jemand zu haben der dich dauernd fragt ob du Hilfe brauchst in einem LEBENSMITTELLADEN. Ist so verrückt ich weiß nicht wieso die das gemacht haben denke nicht das in anderen Städten on der US das die das so machen weil keiner einen babysitter braucht beim Lebensmittel Einkauf. Wenn jemand Hilfe braucht kommen die selber zu einem O.o

[@ESCLuciaSlovakia]

I can relate to that feeling. I have always tried to avoid shops with too smiley and chatty staff that approaches me right after I enter the shop, or even tries to assist my shopping. I prefer them to ignore me completely, until I approach them.

[@UnkownWonders]

@@ESCLuciaSlovakia I get it, it's like being babysat by the staff because you can't look around yourself or smth. That's how it feels like to me at least

[@arnewengertsmann9111]

I was in a Walmart once. Must have been somewhere around 2000 or so. When I got in some employee came around smiled at me and greeted me. I was like... nope, I'm out. Never went in there again. If I go shoping, I want to get in there, get my things and get the hell out as fast as possible. If I have questions or need help, I will ask for it. As long as I don't ask for help, please assume, I don't need any. Another thing was this motivation thing. When I was in my senio year at school, around the same time as my Walmart expirience, we got that motivational trainer in school. She tried those same things we saw in the video in an attempt to raise school spirit and morale. Basically she crashed and burned and the project was canceled after about a month, as almost all the students and all the teachers found those practices completely ridiculous. We would just silently watch her making a fool out of herself and more or less ignore her. So yeah, as much as we adapted from the US, those things just don't translate here. We just aren't comfortable with over friendly, and forced cheery people. It seems fake to us. And most Germans just hate it.

[@YukiTheOkami]

Reminds me at a theater group i was once im a a Arbeitsamt programm Boss was not willing tontalk about atarting time even though most us us used the train wich came every half an h and would let us arive almost half an h before it stardet or 3 minutes late wich was not toleratet we tried do make em change official "work" stard tob5 minutes later wich would us leave only 2 or 3 minutes erly but nope And after sitting there for almost half an hour they made us do some motivation training shit and morning exercise Dude injust stood up 4:50 in the night for an arbeitsamt programm and now u want me to be motivated and do sport hell no😅 Btw we all ended uo quitting at once and report the programm wich only got the two people ww called boss some extra cash from the goverment. We never once hold a play at a kindergarden or retirement home or did anything of meaning . As an aliby there was plays held for the meople in the house that where in other useless programms 😅 The thing got shut down for good

[@FloofersFX]

Fake smiles give off a weird feeling.. we know retail, grocery stores, etc jobs aren't the greatest... No need to pretend. And yeah, most folks that go shopping just wanna do their thing and be done with it. This reminds of of the US waiters as well. It's just so uncomfortable...

[@MysticalJessica]

Well I have been in markets where they greet you when you go in and I haven't been bothered by it as much as not to go there again! I was intrigued by what you said here, cause I have never been to a Walmart before and started thinking is it really that bad?! So I watched a Walmart greeter in America in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iILHdqdngrmGrrM! ...and now I understand what you said! Yes it is too much! It feels like someone is begging you for money! The markets I have been to don't do this... they will welcome and give some quick information about what's on sale or what not and they do it in such a manner as if they were addressing many people creating the feeling that there's also other people entering the store behind you. They don't make it this personal unless you want them to. But on the other hand, from what I have observed, Americans are pretty fake in their day to day lives and when they encounter someone sincere they are not used to it and they will be shocked!

[@arnewengertsmann9111]

@@MysticalJessicaI can't speak for all Americans, but the culture on politeness is kind of different.

[@lucykitsune4619]

When I go shopping workers do greet me and stuff, but the thing is I live (And do my grocery shopping) in a 1000-people village in lower austria. I know these people and they know me. It's normal to do some catching up with customers if you know them outside of work. It's not normal to force a smile when you clearly do not want to. (As a friend of mine put it: Smiling in Vienna in public is a criminal offense)

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

It is important to understand that Walmart didn't so much have problems with German government, they got in to trouble with the legaly system/courts by not playing by the rules. Bribing politicians, preventing/harassing unions, dictating what your -slaves- employees can do, selling under cost to starve the competition .. all not allowed in civilized countries inhabited by adults. please forgive my sarcasm

[@silkwesir1444]

yeah, I noticed too that in the video they said "the government" several times when actually it's the courts. Important distinction.

[@petebeatminister]

Many American companies struggle to be successful in Germany. And often clash with work ethics and the work laws we have, something that is widely unknown in the US. And when the management from the US tries to operate in the same way they are used to in the states, disaster is waiting to happen.

[@Mysterios1989]

Jup. It seems that for many, it is hard to wrap the head around the fact that we have constitutionally protected unions, labor participation and not at will employment. That regularly kills a lot of common business practices.

[@Ph34rNoB33r]

I think workers' unions might be even more of a thing in the US, but that's simply because there is way more need, as politics don't care much about workers' rights.

[@andreastroppiana1217]

​@@Mysterios1989it kills a lot of American business, but if you work correctly you can still thrive

[@Leenapanther]

But germans still use Amazon...

[@Mysterios1989]

@@Leenapanther Well, yes, but Amazon in Germany is unionized. So, while it is true that the company acts like shite in bit parts around the world, they did adapt to German laws and customs to operate here.

[@thehellscourge]

This reminds me of the story about how at a Wallmart meeting, for their upcoming Black Friday sale, they told workers not toa ccept superbowl cards in exchange for keeping ware in stock for selected costumers. And the german workers were looking at each other 'wtf mate'.

[@Orbitalbomb]

Walmart wasn’t cheap in Germany at all. The grocery store market in Germany is extremely competitive.

[@1337Jogi]

One can see that also in thre fact that ALDI is ths fastest expanding grocery brand in the US as far as I know. They have very competitive pricing for a line of essential items. They do this by limiting retail space (and therefor cost) and focusing on a small number essential items. Also for these they will have their own brands to cut away the middle man. When Walmart has like 40.000 differen items in storage ALDI will have more like 2000

[@lld4ae]

Oh yes

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@1337Jogi yup, a handful brands, usually one or two in-house combined with some mid range and upscale names. And the cheap products tend to be the same as the expensive ones, just without the name. Take soda, I have two stores nearby, they sell Coca Cola, Pepsi, Sinalco and their in-house brand. They have Heinz ketchup, Thomy ketchup, Deverly ketchup (the one McDonald's uses) and their in-house brand. They have three name brands of pizza, and two in-house brands, a cheap one and a midrange one. They sell three of the biggest brands of loose coffee and two brands of capsules, plus their in-house brand. They have four name brands of shampoo, plus their in-house brand. And the list goes on. A small assortment of products that pretty much covers the entire range of customers.

[@michelleschrock9141]

Meanwhile the Edeka and the Netto store in my village who are very close to the other one: Helps each other without competition at all.

[@gaming_noc]

Germany has a social market economy. America has a free market economy. That is a big difference. The difference is that the government sometimes intervenes to compensate for social disadvantages. This serves to secure prosperity and social security.

[@ThomasVWorm]

The "social market economy" is a German myth. The reason why Walmart did fail is because Germany is a "market economy". Germany enforces competition by prohibiting unfair practices. Which means competition in Germany is very hard, esp. in retail. And not only among the retail chains. Also because of the German customers. These are the top 3 services, which customers expect in Germany: 1. very low price 2. an even lower price 3. the lowest price On the retail side you have huge chains only delivering products for discount prices. So for Walmart coming to Germany was like falling unarmed into a piranha tank, because German laws did not allow many of Walmarts typical practices it uses against its competition.

[@silkwesir1444]

@@ThomasVWorm I wouldn't say myth. It's a concept that is self-contradictory and hence cannot be maintained (it destroys itself, stripping out the "social" aspect over time), but it definitely was/is being attempted anyway.

[@urlauburlaub2222]

This is total nonsense. The US is much more social and intervening, and less free. That's why you had a situation, why Walmart made sense. In Germany, you had a free market economy, and now you have interventionism and Socialism like the US had before, so the inner cities or townships die and eventually you get a Walmart. In the past, Walmart just didn't have any reason to exist, because the "problem Walmart solves" didn't exist.

[@SilverSmrfr]

What is a "social market economy"?

[@urlauburlaub2222]

@@SilverSmrfr A free market economy, without State influence and interference, but also no Union influence etc.

[@jameslewis2635]

Walmart failed for similar reasons in the UK as well. To be fair, they bought out and owned an established chain called ASDA for quite some time but the Wallmart branded stores never spread outside of London. The American business practices, pushy sales culture and creepy false cheer just doesn't mesh well with the British mentality. We are a nation of 67 million people squashed into an area of similar size to Florida, most of us just want to be left in peace to do our own thing - if we want help we will ask for it.

[@jarkkolahtinen7441]

UK is the only place in Europe where Walmart/Asda has had any success at all, and ASDA is the third largest retailer now in UK. So I wouldn't say it completely failed there.

[@keithparker5125]

@@jarkkolahtinen7441 It never made a huge profit with ASDA which is why it was sold. It achieved it's position by undercutting it's rivals at the cost of profits and staff pay.

[@xYonowaaru]

It's funny to me as a German british service already is way over the top. Always found it kinda cringy how female staff would call me things like "sweetheart", "darling", etc. all the time while I really needed to insist I'm good on my own.

[@MichaelJohnsonAzgard]

​@@xYonowaaruit's the British way of greeting other people. Try it sometime.

[@xYonowaaru]

@@MichaelJohnsonAzgard To me it's weird. I rather liked the TfL staff. They often greeted me with some banter.

[@HerbertLandei]

Treating your employees like shit is a surefire way to ruin your reputation and image in Germany. Even Amazon struggles with this.

[@karstenbursak8083]

Walmart employer sneaking around a customer: " hello how can I help you ?" German customer:" To shut the F up and mind your own business would be a good start !" 😂😂😂 But lets be serious, that 10 feet rule is just business paranoia ... Somebody might try to shoplift

[@Kosty19]

I think its because american customers want and expect to be babysitted.

[@silkwesir1444]

Actually no, as far as I have heard. To you as a customer it can feel like they are suspecting you of wanting to shoplift. But from their perspective, that's not the point of it at all. It's an example of a failure to figure out how a gesture comes across to the other side.

[@michelleschrock9141]

In german if you need to help with were a product is you go to find a store worker for helping you. You have to find them yourself and it's very rare for a store worker to sneak up to you and annoy them with talking. It's like that in my village so i don't know how it goes in other cities or other villages.

[@raileon]

I love how Ryan already figured it all out within the first minute of the video, before watching a single second of the video he’s reacting to lol

[@eaglevision993]

One thing I remember when we had Walmart in Germany were the very generous amount of free plastic bags to pack your groceries at the cash registers. Literally everyone put an extra 50 in their shopping cart to use for trash later on. Another thing never caught on were the greeters. It is so funny to think a German would like to be greeted with a smile when they enter a supermarket. This is such an absurd thing to have someone stand there with no purpose than to say "hello" - and in direct contradiction with German efficiency. They only had mostly cheap off-brand in their electronics and other non food departments, controlled their employees to the point they were choking in lawsuits and mostly the centers were not very organized and clean.

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

Manchmal findet man noch dutzende dieser Tüten bei einer Haushaltsauflösung.😂😂

[@Nordlicht05]

When you say this I remember another step in this directio It is from relatives out of Russia. They even wondered that some employees say hello or do look friendly at you. It may be not as often as in the USA but must be mostly absent in Russian when they said this to me. But maybe they only live in a bad area and areas around that.

[@eaglevision993]

@@user-tq5lu1wp7e Ich habe auch noch welche! Haha. Die halten sich, ist halt kein Recycling-Mist sondern echtes amerikanisches Plastik mit ordentlich Weichmachern. Wahrscheinlich wird man die in einigen hundert Jahren noch bei Ausgrabungen in Deutschland finden und sagen: "Ah, etwas aus der deutschen Walmart -Ära, interessant."

[@jennyh4025]

Well, I do like to be greeted with a smile and hello when I enter the supermarket, but only by staff I know. And when I know they want to greet me with a smile because I am a regular customer and am nice to them myself.

[@Winona493]

​@@eaglevision993😂😂

[@MichaelFMeyer-lz5fv]

funny how Ryan saw all the reasons before he even strated the video. He is smarter than all Walmart CEOs.

[@sigmagic2874]

My thoughts exactly 👍

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Yup, he is far smarter than he thinks. The fact that he is interested to learn and informs himself is the best example of someone trying to increase their knowledge.

[@schnelma605]

I remember: You didn't want to buy from a company that treated its own employees badly. You become a kind of accomplice if you shop there

[@silkwesir1444]

Good point, but I think sadly the majority of people doesn't care - even in Germany.

[@karinsuden7700]

Why does Amazon do so well here, then?

[@xattrickmazeo5782]

@@karinsuden7700 They learned from the incredible fuck up that is Wallmart

[@dermathe-boller9108]

Walmart arrived thinking Germany was just waiting for them. They completely underestimated the competition that Aldi, Lidl and Globus gave them. They also replaced the counters with fresh goods with packaged goods. There were no familiar items in their range. What motivated me to boycott Walmart at the time was the arrogant, turbo-capitalist way in which it treated its workforce. And I could do without that fake, lying smile. Ultimately, Walmart disappeared without a hitch and no one misses them to this day.

[@Cloney1337]

Germany has only 4 large grocery retailers. Aldi, Lidl, Rewe and Edeka, with the later ones having low budget daughter companies such as Netto. All 4 compete in a hyper competition on price. All 4 have such a large market share that they can dictate producers lower prices. And if someone like Nestle or Coca Cola does not reduce its pricing, the big 4 just stop putting these brands on the shelves for a time till they find a common ground. All 4 are so used to hyper competition, that all 4 have streamlined every aspect of their economy and supply chain. Germany has lower grocery prices then all izs neighbors and even lower prices then countries with less economic spending power such as Czech Republic or Bulgaria. Thats why Walmart could not compete. Their only 85 super stores could not compete on scale or pricing with the german big 4, who each run 10.000 regular sized stores. Walmart was just not able to achieve price drops by pushing Nestle and Coca Cola arround, by producing their own brands and they tried to underpay their workers to compensate. Which did not bode well with their public image, as the big 4 are all known as okaish employers. Funny enough, 2023 Aldi and Lidl are thr fastest growing grocery stores in the US and taking over more and more market share, as americans are fed up with walmart and cant afford publix and the likes.

[@FrogeniusW.G.]

ReWe and Edeka are not in the same (pricing) sector as Aldi & Lidl though. Basically in Germany you only need 2 stores, Aldi and dm. Everything you miss at Aldi, dm got it covered.

[@poldinho93]

different type of stores. Rewe and Edeka are supermarkets though Aldi and Lidl are Discounters, competing with Penny and Netto, the disounter companies by Rewe and Netto

[@Cloney1337]

@@poldinho93 Rewe and Edeka both shelve budget products into their shelves (and brand products.) Both Aldi and Lidl started to have more products (from just over 1.000 to now 2.500+) and brands. They compete with each other, you can ask anyone working here in cologne in the Rewe headquarters. With Lidl and Aldi rolling out their new store concepts and even started experimenting with fresh meat stations, the differences become smaller and smaller.

[@Scamander]

@@FrogeniusW.G. If you stick to only the products you would get in a Lidl or Aldi, but take the house brand alternatives of Edeka and Rewe instead, you will pay comparable prices. Fruits, vegetables and fresh meat are in general more expensive, though.

[@voyance4elle]

​@@FrogeniusW.G. I think they meant REWE as a company, not the Store. The REWE group consists of many shops, not only REWE or REWE to Go, but also Penny, toom Baumarkt, Lekkerland, DER, ITS and so on... Same goes for Edeka: The Edeka group also consists of Marktkauf, Netto, nah&gut and so on....

[@Denk_Laut]

By the way, the WalMart headquarters were in my home town of Wuppertal. There was a big scandal here at the time because Walmart dared to sack an employee because she had a love affair with another employee. - And employee protection is something sacred in Germany. Employees cannot be dismissed unless they have done something really, really, terrible. In addition, a court ruled that the Code of Ethics violated our Constitution. In particular the first article, which reads: "Human dignity is inviolable". But also against Article Two, which states: "Everyone has the right to the free development of his personality, provided that he does not violate the rights of others and does not violate the constitutional order or the moral law."

[@NelsonClick]

Hello! You're from that town that invented the suspended monorail. Did you ever ride it? If so, is it bumpy or loud? Is it scary? Does it make you feel like you're going to fall through the floor? I'm asking because I am so curious. I have been curious about that thing for decades. I was unable to make it to Wuppertal when I went to Germany in 2011. I may never get back and always wanted to ride that thing. 😊

[@Denk_Laut]

Hello@@NelsonClick! Yes, I rode it my whole childhood because it always took me to school. Even as an adult, it was almost always indispensable, especially in winter when nothing was running because of the snow, but you could always rely on the suspension railway! :D I wouldn't say it's bumpy, but loud, hmm, it's definitely not quiet, but it's perfectly OK from the inside, especially the new generation of carriages that are now running are a lot quieter than the generation before. And no, you never actually have the feeling that you could fall through the floor. Also, after the terrible accident in 1999, you no longer have to worry about it crashing, as the wheels have been modified so that there is no longer any possibility of them jumping out. You are of course always welcome in Wuppertal. I know the best places, which have generally not been covered by KZbin videos. :D

[@nadinebeck2069]

Did you remember the adress? Friedrich-Engels-Allee! I was shocked when I found out but I'm sure their management didn't ever heard of that name before!

[@nadinebeck2069]

​@@NelsonClickThat's cute. I ride it quiet often. It's funny and children like it a lot. There are videos from 1910 and it looks pretty much the same. Some old house had been destroyed during war but some houses and factories are still looking the same today. And the river Wupper of course is still the same 😊

[@Denk_Laut]

@@nadinebeck2069 The street was so named because Friedrich Engels was born and grew up on this street. :D Irony of fate.

[@k.reimann966]

When Walmart came to Germany, word got around very quickly that it was not a good employer and that they treated its staff very badly. As a result, Walmart quickly gained a bad reputation among Germans and failed. It's the same with the new shopping carts, where the customer scans their items themselves and also completes the payment process themselves (for example at Edeka and Marktkauf) At least in the stores near me, these things are rejected by customers. I was once asked by a survey person why I don't use the "Smart Shopper" even though it's quicker and I don't have to wait at the other checkouts. I then said: "Just tell your management the following: I'll take over the work of your employees so that you can fire the staff and i still have to pay the same price, even though I work for your store... What's "smart" about that? Find the mistake!"😂

[@mfbfreak]

I don't see it as doing the cashier's work. If you can scan while putting stuff in your backpack or shopping bags, i feel like i'm able to get out of the store much quicker and in a more pleasant way. It's different if you gotta scan an entire trolley full of groceries *at* the self checkout. That just sucks, but in the case of the Lidl and Albert Heijn self checkouts in the Netherlands, you are not supposed to scan more than 10 items at the check out stations. Either go to a cashier or scan as you go.

[@k.reimann966]

​@@mfbfreak I just don't like these self-service checkouts. These will lead to employees being laid off because they need fewer cashiers. And retailers will therefore not reduce prices if they save money by eliminating positions in the checkout area. I'd rather wait a little longer at the checkout, but I have a clear conscience because I'm not causing people to become unemployed

[@Tokru86]

@@k.reimann966 There is usually at least 1 staff (sometimes even more) there to help with issues/errors at those self check out stations anyway. I bet they don't even safe 1 staff position with those. Maybe in very large supermarkets with lots of those stations. In the smaller ones which only have 2-4 due to space restrictions certainly not.

[@3333927]

It's the same with Burger King. There are touchscreens now. Only one employee to help confused people. I'll never use such things, there you have to do the cashier's work.

[@Karfunkelfuchs]

Also ich nutze und mag die Selbstbedienungskassen bei unserem Penny :D gehen aber leider nur bis 15 Artikel. Geht halt so viel schneller, eben weil die kaum wer nutzt xD

[@germanjake1288]

I think in this vid it shows the fine differences in culture. As example smiling at customers. Germans are in genereal genuine. So at the checkout you get a friendly/neutral "Hello" for common curtesy. But not a Barbie plastic smile with an overbearing "Oh Hello welcome to Walmart". Thats also probably why Germans are seen as cold in some places but from my perspective i would call it neutral. You meet people and you don´t know them if you like or dislike them, has to be established through getting to know them if youre out to make new aquaintances and/or friends.

[@randomnik70]

I remember when as a European I entered Walmart for the first time in US and someone started greeting me like some sort of psychopath weirdo. It was freaking me out :D Not sure why anyone would want that.

[@blondkatze3547]

Many Germans like to shop in supermarkets such as : Edeka where there is a good fresh meet and cheese counter, a bakery and a good fruit and vegetable department. The freshness and quality of food is very important to many consumers.

[@noseboop4354]

As opposed to Americans, who don't care how sh*tty their food is as long as it's cheap and they get a smile at the counter.

[@Betz23K]

17 years back - the bigger edekas´s lidl´s or aldi´s were behind the quality and freshness (rotation cycle) of walmart today the successfull german players new or refurbished markets to me look more like the walmarts back then in my region i think akzenta (peaks) and some kauflands had the broader assortment edeka still has small markets (who are often outdated and offer low quality and vatiety of fresh products) but back at the walmart-invasion there were very well managed small markets who provided a near-range "tante-emma" shopping option which unfortunatly wasn´t supported by its nearby costumers - so they went to scaled up markets in peripherical locations as walmart too had a good variety in cosmetic and household product and a metro-like non-food section - i wonder why this inner-city "metro" for everyone did not succeed

[@thegreatveritas]

I worked at a Walmart in Germany back in the day. I can confirm that many products vanished and the working conditions were toxic. Worst thing that we had to sing several times every day how much we love Walmart and how much we love it to work there. We even had a VHS-tape we had to watch every morning before the doors opened. It was no surprise that they failed. EDIT: Yes, they changed the name.

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

That’s so creepy! It’s like brainwashing 😳

[@SolarCookingGermany]

Sounds like a cult not like a business

[@Watchmaker_Gereon-Schloesser]

Danke für diese heftige Einsicht.

[@terereweeppy2023]

Eso no es un lugar de trabajo, es una secta 😨

[@Tindome-ib6el]

I was in a walmart once, while they existed in germany. I can't remember creepy greeters, but I remember me an my mom were pretty disapointed by the products they sold. It was all low quality crap. We never went again.

[@Ned-Ryerson]

Same here. At least the staff hadn't bought into the cult yet, so they behaved almost normally when around me.

[@EllaSilentDragon]

Now I feel really bad for their employees all over the world. 😔

[@michaelgoetze2103]

Yes, Ryan seems to be suffering a little PTSD from his experience.

[@charlotteice5704]

The cheer and employees being told to rat each other out also awakes memories of dictatorship in Germans. This is especially true for the Eastern part. I'm not from there and I can only guess how Walmart must have been received there, but it must have been bad. _Imagine you're a middle aged East German in 1997. 8 years ago, the dictatorship that ruled over you for your entire life ended. Before that, you had to watch out what you said - the people you thought of as friends could be spies, you were told by teachers and youth group leaders from the beginning to report any dissenting behaviour you see, such as not participating in the chants, and you've heard of what happens to the people who were reported, that they "vanished", never to be seen again. That was eight years ago. And now your employer wants you to participate in a chant every morning and to report anyone who doesn't follow the guidelines._ I don't actually know if any of those 85 stores were located in the East, but if they were,that must have gone really, really badly. Also, the rest of Germany was also just 52 years past a horrible dictatorship in 1997, so anyone who was 55 and older in 1997 has memories of it. It's incredibly insensitive to have that kind of corporate culture in such an environment.

[@hertelantje]

I’m from East Germany. Reporting your co-workers - I don’t think of East Germany ( some might), but of the Nazi Regime.

[@tobiasmuth2372]

What a stupid statement and it also gets support! Of the 22 former Wertkauf branches, only one was in the East - Dresden Heidenau. In total, Walmart had eight stores, including Dresden-Heidenau and Berlin. Means six more shops in the former East. With 82 stores, sales could only be achieved in the West and that with 74 stores! Walmart completely overestimated itself and not just because of cultural differences or the “Eastern citizens” at the time. 82 stores against a consolidated and already divided market, with over 1000 branches of other providers (discounters and full-range retailers). This is and was failure of managers at the highest level.

[@michellemaine2719]

@@hertelantje I was born in Czechoslovakia and lived there before the curtain fell. The Communists absolutely expected people to rat each other out as well, at least in my country.

[@hertelantje]

@@michellemaine2719 I think it depended on who one had to deal with. Like now. One person follows all the rules to the smallest detail, others are more relaxed.

[@EgoundderRest]

Es fehlten nur noch Zäune und bewaffnete Posten. Das III. Reich stand schon vor der Tür. Wenn sich der gewöhnliche Amerikaner so etwas gefallen lässt, sind die USA auf einem üblen Weg.

[@knutritter461]

All those weird techniques Walmart introduced to their employees are just nighmarish for Germans. That chanting in the beginning in particular.... it reminds me of similar experiences made in Germany a long time ago. Additionally employees smiling and greeting me at the entrance are really scary because we know it's not sincere from the person but ordered from the management.

[@Tokru86]

I wouldn't call it scary. More like off-putting, dishonest and disrespectful.

[@XynxNet]

Visiting Walmart was like visiting creep central.

[@AussieFossil]

At least in Japan, not Walmart, but big stores, greet you at the door by politely bowing.

[@zehunter2183]

But obviesly here in germany we have big store chains that are able to grow while not violating any laws or worker privacies. This just show how greedy Walmart is, and thus, capitalism not always good is.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

While Walmart has about 5000 stores in the US, it has few elsewhere, other than in Mexico. There are just 400 stores in Canada, and fewer in Chile and China. It failed entirely in Germany, the UK, Brazil, Argentina, S Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong, closing all stores in those countries.

[@brickchef8282]

and big reason for that is they have real Employment Laws

[@Delibro]

But why don't they learn from failures? You could change and learn very much when 1 billion (only in Germany) is at risk. So why keep failing after 9 years in Germany? Why fail in different countries with Germany's failure as knowledge?

[@Rsama60]

@@DelibroWalmart tried to adapt. Once they saw the US mangers failed they hired mamagers from Europe. Just to make another mistake. I think they hired a Dutch guy (not want to say anything against Dutch), but that guy had no experince in retail, he came from an electronics manufacturer.

[@jessbellis9510]

@@Delibro Because of what their ideology is. This video showed the mentality of those in charge: We can't make our desired profit margins because you won't let us exploit workers and manipulate the market.

[@Delibro]

@@jessbellis9510 Oh yea I think this is the real reason. All other things might be obstacles but can be solved.

[@danielreichert9187]

A classmate once worked in a summer in a Walmart here in Germany, helping to maintain the fridges. Back in School he told us, they found chicken on the bottom of a fridge, expired 3 years earlier.

[@BernieUndErt]

The main problem for Walmart: company profits weren´t high enough compared to the US market. If there are anti-capitalism-regulations like: 8h shifts (only 2 extra hours allowed for a short periode of time), overtime is paid 25% extra or you get freetime, minimum wage above the poverty level, minimum 24 days of paid leave per year, not per decade (most companies give you 30 days even without unions),...

[@mfbfreak]

Other companies have no trouble making a shitton of money in Germany though, it's *the* biggest economy of Europe.

[@BernieUndErt]

@@mfbfreak For some people enough is not enough. With an US-market mindset you won't last long...

[@erraldstyler]

@@mfbfreak yeah true, but retail is especially rough. the big four dont fuck around

[@tillneumann406]

The operating profit margin for the entire food retail business (Lebensmitteleinzelhandel/LEH, however including their non-food products) in Germany has typically been between 0.5 and 1.0 per cent for decades. The last figure I found was 0.9 %. WalMart, on the other hand, has a margin of close to 3 % now, but earlier in this century it was twice as much. And they probably expected something similar from their gung--ho approach to the German market, which shows the laws weren't the only documents they did not check adequately.

[@Betz23K]

@@tillneumann406 correct - that´s what was reported - back then - just before they were retreating - the food price competion prices to be to be stiff to operate - i doubt this as the walmart where i shopped weekly had a 50:50 food/non-food space - with a very broad range of products including quality products - more like the metro or carrefour - very different from food-focused rewe or edeka (current config) and something very different from aldi/lidl/kaufland back then and now i remember the food quality and variety to be better than that of their competition (at the time) - and the additional cosmetics household product covering the rossmann+schlecker-class too except for the range of non-food products (metro-style) the current big food players seems to have evolved towards walmart-style - perhaps they were a bit to soon ahead and rivaled too many different competitors

[@steemlenn8797]

I always find it funny when I hear about mandatory video watching in companies about bad unions are. I mean it's like listening to the guy who kidnapped you how bad police are. But then I watched a video (from Type Ashton I think) about the differences of the union system and at least a part of it made sense.

[@arnodobler1096]

@Type Ashton made a great video about it. 👍

[@stevefoulston]

No Walmart in Australia. Peace out.

[@herrbonk3635]

None here in Scadinavia either, afaik.

[@fars8229]

11:38 Walmart cheer? - We had that sort of rallyes in Germany 1933-1945. Lidl, Aldi & Co are tough players, they are no angels, either. 15:05 "Get wrecked!" 🤣👍

[@larahc1391]

Kind of impressive you knew the problem right away and Walmart itself had to figure it out first 😂

[@Kath-Erina]

And it took them more than a decade lol😂

[@catonkybord7950]

"It puts the cult back in culture" Brilliant 👏👏😂

[@IvanRiveraStagea]

Canada, China, Mexico and Chile have Walmarts. Like in Germany, Walmart failed in South Korea (they sold to E-Mart, Korea's largest discount retailer).

[@hannah-wj9ot]

I went to Walmart once and found myself harrassed by a creepily smiling middleaged male employee. I was a teenager so that was even worse .

[@cayreet5992]

About the price war - in Germany, companies are not allowed to long-term sell stuff below the price they bought it for (short-time sales are allowed). So if Walmart wanted to sell stuff below their buying price just to draw more customers, they were acting against the law. That is, essentially, why the prices for the most basic wares are the same in all discount markets here in Germany - they have a similar price they buy at and they need to add a certain percentage for income. Without that strategy and with a market they didn't understand, they couldn't successfully compete.

[@sakkra83]

One thing that is not stated in the video: The Wlamrt Cheer(tm) woke a lot of bad memories. It reminds me personally of Nuremberg '36, the Nazi rallies.

[@zymelin21]

Die Partei, die Partei die hat immer recht.....................

[@sakkra83]

@@zymelin21 I think that is the opposite side, but curiously both were of the same opinion in that regard

[@oliverhoschi6135]

I´m born in Berlin (1982) and now living in Dortmund (since 1999), and to this day i never heard of Walmart in Germany. Really, you should see my face at the moment "What Walmart was in Germany???" didnt know that, and i dont live under a rock. But as far as i can see, its no loss for Germany.

[@YannGaisser]

Ja bis heute wusste ich das auch nicht aber da war ich wahrscheinlich nicht geboren oder zu jung um es zu bemerken😂

[@itskyansaro]

The Main Difference between the USA and Germany is that they are essentially different Economic Systems. The USA is an almost unregulated Capitalist Market, that allows Megacorporations and Monopolists to Exploit and Suppress Competition. Germany on the other hand is a Social Market economy, still a fairly capitalist system, but a lot more Regulated and interventionist. Normally the Argument for capitalism is that it creates competition, but at some point, it doesn't anymore and only one Winner takes it all. The German Socialist System Actually creates Competition by stacking the Cards against the big players and mandating how much of a market share they are allowed to occupy at a Max to guarantee that smaller competition doesn't go out of business. There's a whole State Department that watches over the Market to prevent Monopolies from forming. Walmart made the Mistake to assume it could implement it's turbocapitalist business practices into a highly regulated anti-monopolist system and they fell on their nose badly.

[@MaryRaine929]

12:00 That was so cringe, I got goosebumps! I like to see our „Soziale Marktwirtschaft“ (social market economy) working and put the brakes on turbo capitalism.👍

[@MrHodoAstartes]

Yeah. Kartellamt don't like them no monopolist.

[@Mysterios1989]

5:50: Aldi keeps its prices low by maximizing efficiency within their shops. You will never find a bagger in an Aldi, the packages of Aldi are designed to be stocked quickly (basically, all cartons have rip lines so that you can simply rip them open and put them like that in the shelve, instead of putting each item in separately). In addition, they have a small collection of items, allowing a more focused and cheaper approach in sourcing. The shops are staffed with what is necessary, and nothing more. It is expected that each employee to man the register when necessary, but otherwise, do everything else in the shop. Basically, the shop is as streamlined as it can be to reduce overhead. Hell, for the longest part of aldi's history, they didn't even had ad campaigns, just a weekly prospect with the deals for the next week.

[@carlosn894]

Aldi didn't even had electronic barcode scanners at cash registers until 2003. The employees had to memorize every item and tip in the product code by hand. This was considered faster than using the scanners.

[@robfriedrich2822]

And I know with bagger one more false friend...

[@nswinoz3302]

I have to ask for clarity, what’s a bagger? NSW in Oz

[@EmmaHope88]

@@nswinoz3302 A person who puts your groceries in bags for you and then hands you the bags. Very common in the US. Took some getting used to when I lived there.

[@yvonnehorde1097]

That is what Aldi always did right. They took chief executives from the country they wanted to expand to. And they even succeded in a way in the US, despite the competition that was already tough...

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

It is what made the Roman empire successful. Keep local rulers in power. They pay taxes and accept roman hegemony, and in return the empire won't send a legion to put someone else in power. The whole "when in Rome...." but the other way around.

[@martinseele325]

I have a friend who was working in the marketing department of WalMart Germany. He said that the main reason for their failure was that they did not understand that their targeted market position as the cheapes in the market was already taken by the Geman brands. Also WalMarts treatment of their employees made the brand immensely unpopular.

[@bartreisender6765]

This culture problem can’t be underestimated 8:35 for example they wanted to forbid employees from hooking up and having relationships. Which is actually a thing considered essential and a human right in Germany. I remember reading this. And instantly decided never to shop there. It was outrageous. Imagine a company insisting on beating puppies in front of the shop once a month. Huge scandal

[@barborablaskova]

I think in many countries smiling thing will be strange, in my country we do not like so much stranger and if some stranger smile at you and looking at you without blinking anywhere, no matter if you are surrounded by bread or book, you use pepper spray, start screaming and running and then tell at home horror story about stalker in shop and nowadays write same horror story on internet and it that story became alive and people start to avoid such place

[@ronaldderooij1774]

We had the same kind of story in the Netherlands where an employee was fired because he did not want to keep his camera on the whole day during an online congress. Dutch judges ruled that the employee had a right to privacy and should get 50.000 Euros compensation for illegal termination of his contract. The US company pulled out of the Netherlands immediately and I don't know if they ever paid the compensation.

[@BobHerzog1962]

The employment ethics code wasn't struck down by the goverment,but by the courts. At some point they basically told Wallmarkt that all their work contracts are partly illegal and thus those parts all revert back to the base standart contract in the lawbooks (which was very bad for Wallmarkt).

[@twinmama42]

Walmart could have been a success in Germany, but it chose to waltz through customer/personnel relationships like a tank or a bulldozer. There were so many weird facts about the market that made us cringe. So we showed solidarity to all Walmart employees by just not shopping there. Walmart was more expensive than Aldi, Lidl, Plus, Netto, or Penny (the big German discounters that bought cheaper [store labels instead of brands], had a lean stock [store label and max one brand]. Then there was nothing in the assortment of goods that wanted you to go there. I would have liked to buy some American brands or typical American foods (think of pecan foods, red rice, blackeyed peas, cajun spices, candy, peanut oil in large quantities with affordable prices, double-rising baking powder, or other things you need for American food but couldn't get in Germany then. But no, they simply had the same stuff as other German supermarkets. So why bother going there, when other supermarkets were much nearer to home?

[@qerupasy]

I think it's okay to smile when you're talking to someone in Germany. I think it's the whole "This is a person who is smiling to make me let my guard down and rope me into buying stuff I don't need for money I can't spare" vibe. Edit: My dad used to say something along the lines of "It takes only a minute to get into an American's arms, but it takes a decade to get into their hearts. At least when people here smile at you in the street, you know that they actually like you." Maybe this is topical.

[@carstentripscha4609]

It started with greeters at the entrance welcoming you to the store... that was a serious WTF moment for a lot of people But yeah, going to a place where your whole corporate mentality and culture is pretty much contrary to common practices is like an American pizza chain trying to sell US style cardboard pizza in Italy (*cough* Dominos *cough*)... doomed to fail miserably

[@rushinroulette4636]

I could have sworn Walmart left Germany well before 2006. But as to your question about the company that bought up the Wallmart supermarkets. Metro would be similar to your Costco stores, but not generally open to the public. They are a b2b wholesale supermarket. If you want a pallet of Pizza Flour or a 50 KG sack of rice for your restaurant or 500 Liters of Defroster for your garage, then that is where you can pick it up on the quick (plus you can also get normal grocery amounts while you are there). They aren't generally particularly cheap (except for items currently on sale), but they are generally very well stocked and the meat/Fish/fruit/veggies are exceptionally fresh compared to most other supermarkets.

[@Akabei01]

Metro owned Realkauf back then. I guess most Walmart stores were converted to that.

[@stylusphantasticus2637]

Ironically, the story about Wal-Mart in Germany basically mirrors the story about Aldi (Nord) in Denmark. Aldi consistently refused to adapt to the Danish consumer and labor markets and finally gave up somewhere around last year (or maybe the year before, not sure). 114 of its stores were purchased by a Norwegian competitor, Rema 1000, which is pretty popular. Lidl is also in Denmark, but has taken several steps to adapt to the local market - and has been gaining market shares and brand awareness because of it.

[@sinjaja5836]

That's interesting! Could you, if you Don't mind, elaborate some of the differences?

[@silkwesir1444]

@@sinjaja5836 High Five! the world will be ours... 😜

[@stylusphantasticus2637]

@@sinjaja5836 I'm writing this response from a Lidl in Denmark. The chain is generally huge on its own private labels. Even so, I find known brand names that are mainstays on the Danish consumer market. Arla for milk and dairy products, Naturli' for plant based foods, Karoline's Køkken for risalamande and shredded mozzarella, Fazer's “Dumle” chocolates, Toms and Nørregade candy. The candy brands are significant because Lidl seems to be in a permanent boycott of Haribo, a German brand that's so common in Denmark that most people here don't even know it's German. There's also Dunlet for the washing machine and even the odd dental care product by Jordan (though only kids' toothpaste). And Livol's vitamin pills in several variants. These brands typically cost more than Lidl's private label ones, but they enjoy high brand awareness and makes the place seem integrated with consumer expectations on the market. Now that I'm here I'm reminded that, a couple years back, they experimented with the language of the (pre-recorded) announcer speaker. For a while they used the antiquated “formal you” (which is still widespread in German but very niche in Danish), which I guess would have the natural choice for them. But then they changed it so it always uses the “informal you”. It's stuff like this and continuously putting awareness on how Lidl scores pretty well in tests of produce quality, plant based options, etc. that makes the overall impression of the company very different from Aldi (Nord), which was always seen as an awkward junk-tier store. That said, there was recently negative media coverage as newspapers reported that Lidl pays exactly zero taxes in Denmark.

[@sinjaja5836]

@@stylusphantasticus2637 Wow thanks for your detailed response. So interesting to learn about the differences. All the best to you. ☃️

[@agnesmeszaros-matwiejuk8783]

@@stylusphantasticus2637I still love Lidl most of all stores in DK. Aldi and Netto often comes across as shady, stuff just laying around without any concept. Rema 1000 and former Fakta is ok.

[@Vulcano7965]

I find it quite funny that Walmart failed here but we successfully expanded Aldi and Lidl into the US :D

[@zymelin21]

karma can be a bitch

[@neshura]

As another comment here put it: The big four in Germany are in a hypercompetitive situation (personally I think the worker protections and market regulations largely are the cause of this, they successfully prevent(ed) the formation of a monopoly in the supermarket sector forcing the big companies to actually compete), their margins are between 0.5 and 1% while Walmart (and I assume by extension other US stores) sit at around 3%. The US stores simply are not designed to operate on such slim margins so duking it out in the low budget sector is incredibly hard even on their home turf. Extrapolating this further: if ALDI sticks to their European management style/operations margin I can see them absolutely demolish Walmart once they have substantial market share. A lot of how they operate relies on them being a big weight which is an advantage they currently don't really have in the US afaik.

[@the_a-team_geek]

I knew someone who had worked for Walmart here in Germany. He told me, that the staff had to make a prayer with their superiors every morning before they'd began to work. A prayer for the capitalism?! Man, that's really strange for many germans. 😂

[@JHenry-wv1xv]

I had heard at the time that the reason for Walmart's failure was that the profit margins were overestimated. Germany's food market is highly competitive and Germans are very price-conscious. And because dumping prices are prohibited, a newcomer doesn't stand a chance, no matter how much money he pours into it.

[@johanneshalberstadt3663]

I have to add something here: Of course we do smile at each other and of course we tend to percieve someone who smiles as friendly and likable. Thst's judt human. Yes, people might be a little confused if you look them straight in the eye and directly smile AT them for no reason, because it is percieved as personal. So people will be taken aback, but most would then probably think:"Well, maybe this person just smiled for me for no particular reason. How nice". However it is the context of being in a store that wants to sell you something, where we don't react positively to to agressive direct smiling, because we can smell the manipulation tactics and we don't appreciate the inauthenticity. You can tell pretty quickly that it is a corporate strategy imposed on the workers.

[@TheDude50447]

Aldi and Lidl both have some underhanded business strategies like pressuring the suppliers into their really low prices. On the other hand Aldi for example at least here in germany pays their staff really well.

[@alfredkugler3043]

The interesting thing is that Aldi does business in the US without changing it's approach from the German one, and they are thriving.

[@aprikoseprivat8421]

Ryan, I just have to mention, after thinking about it for many videos, that I often appreciate your attitudes towards certain cultural phenonema, while at the same time I enjoy finding time to relax in the tram moving towards home just after work... Just keep up the good work. All the best...

[@CabinFever52]

So happy they failed in Austria, too! I remember when they moved into the town in the USA where I lived at the time. They put the 3 independent grocery stores out of business and many other business there, too. We lost those stores that had delicious specialty items and store-produced products, like the BEST chicken salad I ever had. Walmart was also stupid enough not to do their research to discover that the stores they bought were ones that were not doing well, anyway. Smart move Germany and Austria! Loved your reaction on this one (as usual)! I also did a comparison of ice cream products at the Walmart store vs. the other grocery stores in town. I found that when they offered ice cream brands at much cheaper prices, I saw that they also had been made much cheaper with horrible ingredients included, like guargum and chemicals that do not belong in ice cream. Breyers at the other store chains had just a few basic ingredients, but at Walmart, the reason they sold Breyers so much cheaper, because the ingredients made them have to call it a dairy product, instead of ice cream, with extra ingredients that are not good for you (okay, as if ice cream is good for you in the first place, but you know what I mean). However, it was packaged to look like the very same product that you get at other stores.

[@MaskedBishop]

Unless I have a question and start the conversation I don't want employees to talk to me. 😅 That's one of the reasons I don't buy at Gamestop, and their upselling attempts of course.

[@semiramisubw4864]

my mother worked for Wal Mart for like 2~ years in germany here.. Man i cringed out everytime i went into it. Peolpe on the door greeting you, Forced happyness everywhere. Aint gonna work here. We know the work in such "shops" arent easy and bad payed. Just let me get my stuff and let me get out, no need for fake happyness. Its literally worse than having automated shops imo.

[@BernhardGiner]

I used to go to Walmart sometimes back then. There were employees in the entrance area who were supposed to greet the customers in the most exuberant "American way": somehow as if I was the best thing that could happen to them that day - obviously a lie. I' am just someone who's buying butter or something. I can remember my feeling of foreign shame (Fremdscham) at this asking how I was doing and whether everything was okay. My spontaneous thought was: "That's none of your fucking business". I was of course friendly as always but I wondered how many times someone has said what I was just thinking. I felt sorry for the person - what a strange and hard Job. I prefer it when we deal with each other in an adult, normal and professional way - friendly too, of course, but not excessively so. After all, I'm not a friend, not even an acquaintance, just a customer. Perhaps this "American mentality" was one of the reasons why WalMart was unable to survive on the German market: After all, these people were completely normal employees who worked there at completely normal wages: i.e. with paid vacation, health insurance, protection against dismissal, pension insurance, unemployment insurance, break regulations, health and safety rules, paid sick days and 13th month's salary.... not like in the USA where they are apparently treated like trash, when it comes to humane and fair payment and decent working rules. Same with this creepy "Motivational fiddlings" in the morning. I don't know about USA, but that's paid work time in Germany. The German discounters did not have all these costs. There you go in get your stuff, pay and go out. The cashiers and the customers also gets a Hello, thank you and a goodbye but this doesn't cost anything extra.

[@Lisa-xn9xc]

Metro is a grocery store that focuses on selling products to companies. They sell things pretty cheap in large packs. But they won't let in everybody, you need to register your company to be able to shop there. In Germany groyery store chains would usually have their own store brand. Aldi did the same thing, but has multiple store brands. The brands you don't know at Aldi might be their own brands. They are usually cheaper than other brands.

[@beatepaul5814]

Metro is not only the store chain vor resellers, but means also Metro Group. Up to some time ago, they were the owners of Metro Cash&Carry, Kaufhof, Real, MediaMarkt and Saturn.

[@oleurgast730]

The Metro shops do not sell to companys, but to "Vollkaufleute" (for example businessowners). The reason is quite simple - while "normal" consumers have many protection by law (2 years of waranty, in the first 6 months the seller has to proof if he thinks not to be at fault) and you can not circumvent these laws, theese do not apply, if the customer has proven to be a professional sales person himself. Thats the reason you have to prove you are a "Vollkaufmann/-frau/-etc." and register as a Metro customer to be able to buy there. You still can register and buy as a natural person, not as a company (but you might register as a company). One example for diferent rules: Between "Vollkaufleuten" the buyer have to check the product immedatly and any visible defect has to be reported, else you loose warrenty. While a normal consumer is much more protected. So having a registred business person as cutomer can reduce service cost quite a bit.

[@fabulousaardvark4776]

Walmart tried much the same thing here in the UK. They bought an existing supermarket national chain (ASDA) only to sell out some years later. They didn't rebrand ASDA or try to impose US business practices en masse but still couldn't adapt to a business culture not based on employee exploitation. ALDI and Lidl are strongly present here but I feel the UK drift at that time was as much towards quality of product rather than just price. In fact, when I was in management years ago price was found to be only 4th or 5th in the list of factors driving purchasing decisions. Thus I give you Waitrose , a successful but in no way low price supermarket. As an aside , this in the US may also relate to the generally higher grocery prices. I recommend reacting to Evan //Edinger ( a US tuber living in the UK) who did a couple of videos comparing US and UK grocery prices - you will be very sad to be in the US.

[@herrbonk3635]

Had no idea either, that it existed outside the USA. I've only seen Walmart on Youbube, perhaps on tv.

[@SkeleterYT]

The Cheering starts: "Ehm, I'm handing in my resignation, I thought I worked for a professional company"

[@AriaEmily]

The reason, why ALDI was able to have such low prices is that big brands such as Nestlé, Ferrero etc were producing their products under a different name solely for ALDI and without making advertisement for them. Because they didnt make any ads about those products, they were able to sell them so cheap. Nowadays ALDI has some pricier products too (like original Pringles instead of rip-off) but they still have a huge amount of cheaper products that dont even lack quality in comparison to brand products.

[@walterjoshuapannbacker1571]

We used to have a Walmart in my hometown in Northern Germany; "Mr. Walmart", as we called him, the director, was a nice guy who tried hard, but he never got around to understanding how Germans tick.

[@andreadee1567]

Many things were right, but that Germans feel unconfortable because the cashier smiles, is ridiculous. We are not that scared of friendlyness. But I remember when Walmart opened and someone wanted to grab my food and pack it into a plastic bag, I thought. Don’t touch it, it is mine, I paid for it. The amount of plastic bags they used were criminal.

[@SolarCookingGermany]

We don't feel uncomfortable if someone genuinely smiles at us, it's the fakeness of someone being forced to smile we don't like

[@denisesf5]

The first time I went to Germany and saw store cashiers SITTING and not standing, I knew they treated their workers with respect and thoughtfulness.

[@yuimitsui9817]

I think it has more to do that cashiers bag items in the US, whereas European customers bag purchases themselves.

[@neshura]

@@yuimitsui9817 tbf having the cashier bag my stuff is a very obvious cost source and I'd rather have my stuff that little bit cheaper

[@yuimitsui9817]

@@neshura I just wanted to say it's not necessarily a sign of respect, all management is foremost friendly to stockholders and second to the workforce. German cashiers are just not required to move around that much, so sitting down won't slow them down. That being said, payment, healthcare, minimum wages, working conditions, holidays etc. are probably much better due to strong unions... who would also oppose workers having to stand around all day.

[@TheMelkuki]

I've been working for companies with an american leading style. The motivation stuff and all the superficial amazing and awesome blabla never worked for german employees. We were annoyed

[@BlackHoleSpain]

Germany only? I would say the whole Europe! US is just a very young nation that doesn't know how to behave at the table.

[@schnetzelschwester]

I worked for a big US company, too, and my direct superior was American. We had to undergo a personality test, and we made a joke out of it by giving silly answers. One day we had to play children games like sack race for team building. We all, men in their 50ies, elderly ladies and apprentices refused as one. He didn't understand. When he learned that I was a member of trade union, he asked me, if I was armed.

[@TheMelkuki]

@@schnetzelschwester Unbelievable that these people think it is a good plan

[@Erdbeerschorsch2011]

Legend has it, that they found a guy in a Walmart store in Hamburg who died of old age while trying to find his way back out.

[@user-tq5lu1wp7e]

Das ist wirklich eine Legende. Was aber wahr ist, wenn du nur fünf Teile auf dem Einkaufszettel hattest, musstest du durch den kompletten Laden und dann noch einmal zur gegenüberliegenden Seite. Anschließend stand man dann Samstag eine halbe Stunde an der Kasse

[@markuskruger2102]

Stimmt

[@markuskruger2102]

Einer von unseren 2 Walmart hatte sogar eine Sehr günstige Tankstelle.....

[@epicake_]

I love how the author of the original video seems to have searched the stock video database for whatever keyword he was talking about. "Oh, their strategy was RUINED? Let's insert a clip of a house being demolished!" "Something about a better understanding of the MARKET? Hmm, let's use a clip of a weekly market in a random German town!" "This behavior did not TRANSLATE well? Take a screenshot of Google Translate!"

[@MartinBrenner]

I liked the "Rutschgefahr" slippery floor warning sign with absolutely no relation to the topic "not on good footing with the labor unions" ???

[@MatthiasWiesmann]

Funny, today there was a video of "WSJ The Economics Of" with the title Why Aldi Is America’s Fastest Growing Grocery Store that came out lately which shows the reverse trend…

[@lockssista]

Personally, I hate huge stores where I have to walk 5km to get my groceries together. Then you forget an item and I have to walk several kilometers back to get it. I have my regular stores (Aldi, Netto, Lidl, Rewe) where I have been shopping for years and have known many of the sellers for just as long. And I get a lot of honest (!) friendliness from them. We laugh with each other at the checkout, make jokes, the salespeople ask about the sick cat/grandma (and vice versa) and I leave the store happy and chilled. Walmart/Kaufland is pure stress when shopping. Too big, too loud, too anonymous and too annoying, I hate everything about it! I didn't know anything about singing together, but I knew something like that from a hotel where I worked. American companies sometimes met there to push their best employees. It felt like a cult to me, with the singing, the cheers...it was so creepy, strange and frightening to me! In summary: The customer here in D is king, but don't kiss his feet, don't get on his balls unnecessarily/intrusively, but be nearby when you need him and don't play false games with him!😆

[@claracatlady9844]

I don’t understand the concept or appeal of Walmart. Why the hell would I want to buy clothes at the same place I buy groceries? Having one giant store for everything’s just feels overwhelming. I don’t want to peruse 100 shelves of nonsense just to find the one thing I need. I’d rather go to a designated grocery store, clothing store, electronics store etc. Furthermore I would always rather have better quality than the lowest possible price. Additionally I don’t like to spent money on companies that treat their employees, suppliers, the environment (and everyone) like shit if I can help it

[@henkhessel3651]

We had a similar 'success story' here in the Netherlands with the Canadian Hudsons Bay: ignorant and arrogant and... gone.

[@finalfantasy84]

i dont know if anyone responded to your question how aldi does it yet so i will: the discounters have WAY smaller stores so rent is lower. they also have their own suppliers that can offer some groceries for less. also they dont do flashy marketing or ads or 'feel-good shopping'. it‘s about quick and cheap errand running.

[@psymcdad8151]

We had a Walmart. Visited once, when 2 staffmembers approached me smiling I was weirded out, pulled a 180 and left as fast as possible without actually running. A friend who worked there for a full day (a.k.a.: did quit on the spot) later reported about the chant and from that point on 'Walmart' was very much just another word for 'Scientology' in the region.

[@glaubhafieber]

Walmart stores are too big to fit into a standard german neighborhood. If we have to walk more than a certain distance, we don’t go there 😂

[@anatopio]

I am French-Italian and whether in France or Italy I have never seen a Walmart, and seeing what the video says if they tried they did not succeed either because even if the cultures of these countries smiling at strangers is very important, many things will not happen. Moreover in Europe we have a way of consuming where we pay more attention to the quality and origin of our products, often we prefer to pay more for something of better quality...

[@GregorOttmann]

It's not a problem to smile at strangers here in Germany, I do it all the time. But German customers expect to be left alone when they browse through a store. Being asked by a clerk if help is required is the equivalent of the clerk asking you to buy something or get the fuck out.

[@myeramimclerie7869]

Hi Ryan, the Channel Cheddar made a similar video about the failure of Walmart in Germany. I found it a bit better than this one. Watch if you're interested 😄