Retail is one of the largest employers in Germany, and the sector takes on a great many people who are new to the country because the work is practical, shift-based and taught on the job. The training route is a three-year apprenticeship, but the shop floor itself is open to anyone with good German.
The vocabulary of a German shop is finite and repeated constantly: the till, the shift, the shelf, the exchange. Learn those four areas and you can work a full week without needing language you have not met.
The Words of the Shop
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| der Einzelhandel | the retail trade |
| der Laden | the shop |
| die Filiale | the branch |
| die Verkaufsfläche | the sales floor |
| das Regal | the shelf |
| die Kasse | the till |
| der Kunde | the customer |
| der Verkäufer | the sales assistant |
German retail uses Laden for a small shop and Geschäft or Filiale for something larger, and the distinction is heard in ordinary conversation as well as written on the sign. The Verkaufsfläche is the area open to customers, and it is the space that every task in the day is organised around.
Opening, Closing and Trading Hours
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Öffnungszeiten | the opening hours |
| der Ladenschluss | the closing time |
| der Schlüssel | the key |
| die Alarmanlage | the alarm system |
| der Aushang | the notice on the door |
| der Sonntag | the Sunday |
| der Feiertag | the public holiday |
| der Kassenbericht | the daily till report |
| die Ladenkasse | the shop till |
German shops close on Sundays, a rule that goes back to the constitution and to the law on closing hours, and Sunday trading is permitted only in defined exceptions such as stations and tourist areas. Opening is a sequence of unlocking, disarming the alarm and starting the till, and closing reverses it in a fixed order.
Shifts and the Duty Roster
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Schicht | the shift |
| der Dienstplan | the duty roster |
| die Ablösung | the handover at the end of a shift |
| die Pause | the break |
| die Vertretung | the cover for an absent colleague |
| der Personalengpass | the shortfall of staff |
| die Aushilfe | the temporary helper |
| das Wochenende | the weekend |
Retail hours are long and the roster is the document that everyone checks, because a German shop is legally required to rest its staff and to record the hours worked. The Ablösung is more than a greeting: the till, the float and any open tasks are handed over and confirmed before the shift ends.
The Till and Payments
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Kasse | the till |
| der Kassenbon | the receipt |
| das Wechselgeld | the change |
| das Bargeld | the cash |
| die Kartenzahlung | the card payment |
| die Girocard | the domestic debit card |
| der Storno | the cancellation of a transaction |
| der Kassensturz | the count of the till |
Germany remains a cash-using country, and a shop till therefore carries more money than its equivalents elsewhere. Every transaction is recorded, and the Storno is entered as its own correction rather than by deleting the original line.
Service on the Shop Floor
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| die Beratung | the advice to a customer |
| die Größe | the size |
| die Anprobe | the fitting |
| der Umtausch | the exchange of goods |
| die Nachfrage | the enquiry |
| der Bestand | the stock on hand |
| die Reservierung | the reservation of an item |
| die Reklamation | the complaint about goods |
German customers ask direct questions and expect direct answers, and "das haben wir nicht" is an acceptable reply provided an alternative follows it. Checking the Bestand in the system and offering to order the item is what turns a refusal into a sale.
Replenishment and Price Labelling
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| das Nachfüllen | the replenishment of the shelves |
| die Ware | the goods |
| die Lieferung | the delivery |
| die Warenannahme | the receipt of goods |
| das Etikett | the label |
| die Preisauszeichnung | the price labelling |
| die Bestellung | the order |
| der Lieferant | the supplier |
Replenishment fills the gaps left by the day's sales, and in Germany the price must be displayed on the goods themselves as well as on the shelf. A missing or contradictory price label is a legal issue rather than a tidiness issue, because the displayed price is the one the customer may pay.
Security, Shrinkage and the Rules
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| der Diebstahl | the theft |
| die Warensicherung | the anti-theft tag |
| der Hausdetektiv | the store detective |
| die Videoüberwachung | the video surveillance |
| der Schwund | the shrinkage |
| die Kontrolle | the check |
| die Anweisung | the instruction |
| die Vorschrift | the rule |
Shrinkage is measured, discussed and managed in every German retail chain, and staff are trained to observe rather than to intervene. Confronting a suspected thief is a matter for the store detective or the police, because a false accusation exposes both the employee and the company.
Pay, Hours and the Retail Contract
| German term | English meaning |
|---|---|
| der Tarifvertrag | the collective agreement |
| der Stundenlohn | the hourly wage |
| der Mindestlohn | the statutory minimum wage |
| die Ueberstunde | the overtime hour |
| der Zuschlag | the supplement, the bonus rate |
| die Teilzeit | the part-time work |
| der Arbeitsvertrag | the employment contract |
| die Probezeit | the probation period |
Retail pay in Germany is set either by the statutory Mindestlohn or by a branch Tarifvertrag, and evening or Sunday work carries a Zuschlag on top of the hourly rate. German law protects Sunday as a rest day, so a shop that opens then generally needs a special permit.
The Arbeitsvertrag names the weekly hours, the Probezeit at the start and the notice you must give, and it should be signed before your first shift. Overtime is recorded, and hours beyond the agreed week are paid or banked as time off. If you want to read a German contract and discuss your hours at work, learn German with the retail vocabulary built into the course.
The bars show the order of the stages; each value is a sequence number rather than a duration.
Working in German Retail
German retailers recruit sales assistants, till staff and shelf fillers continuously, and the sector is used to training people with no retail background. Shift work and weekend work are normal, and the pay is set by a collective agreement in most large chains.
The phrases repeat so often that a newcomer becomes useful within days, and the vocabulary can be prepared in advance. If you want to learn German for shop work, the till, shelf and customer service vocabulary is the practical place to begin.
German retail is a small vocabulary used all day long. Learn German for shop work with tills, shelves and customer service built into the course.
Put your German to work. The LanguageSkills German course is self-paced and built around real situations like these — you speak, and your AI tutor corrects you on the spot, from A1 to B2.