How to pay in convenience stores?

Today I went to buy some things in FamilyMart, and I was reminded how hard it was to pay in convenience stores.

As I mentioned, I have been in Taiwan for a few years now and I have had my fair share of experiences in buying things at convenience stores. I think I have nailed the act of going in, picking the stuff I want to buy, paying in the cashier, all while not saying anything to the staff.

But I remember when I first came to Taiwan, I didn’t want to buy from 7-Eleven or FamilyMart at all, since during payment, the staff will say so many things to you. For example: 【會員／載具有嗎？】

Even the Welcome【歡迎光臨】ding-dong sound every time the door opens was very intimidating to me at the start. But I couldn’t have survived without buying anything from convenience stores. So eventually, I had to face my fears.

Throughout the years, I trained my listening and comprehension skills to eventually understand what their were saying. But wouldn’t it have been easier if there was a list that mentioned what are the things they say?

That’s why I’m here to break it down to you guys. Here are some of the common things you will hear when you pay in the convenience store:

• 會員 (huìyuán) - membership

• 載具 (zàijù) - invoice carrier

  • this is related to 發票 (fāpiào) or the receipt

  • we discuss more on 發票 (fāpiào), the lottery, and how you enroll to the e-invoice in another newsletter

• 加熱 (jiā rè) - to heat up something

  • you will hear this when you buy food that is usually heated

  • in Chinese class, they teach you 微波 (microwave) but in convenience stores, they usually use 加熱

• 帶走 (dài zǒu) - take away

  • again, you will hear this when you buy food so they know if they’ll put it in a bag or not

  • in Chinese class, they teach you 外帶 (it also means take out) but in convenience stores, they usually use 帶走

• 這邊吃 (zhè biān chī) - eat here

  • usually said together with 帶走 in a question: 【這邊吃還是帶走？】

  • in Chinese class, they teach you 內用 (it also means dine in) but in convenience stores, they usually use 這邊吃

• 袋子 (dàizi) - plastic bag

  • usually you need to pay an additional NTD 2 to NTD 5 when you want a plastic bag

• 加購 (jiā gòu) - add on purchase

  • you see those chocolates and assortment of food they place in the counter? they usually have some kind of promotion like B1T1, etc. and cashiers usually entice the customers to add on items

Anything missing from this list? Let me know what other words you often hear in the convenience store by replying to this newsletter.

These days, to minimize the amount of interactions with the staff, I have downloaded the corresponding APP per convenience store.

全家便利商店 FamilyMart 

or

有OPENPOINT真好

In the APP, you have to register your details like Chinese Name, ARC number and Phone Number. I also bound my credit card to it so I can pay using the membership.

Now, whenever I go to convenience stores, I just show them the QR code or barcode from the APP. It serves as: (1) membership (會員), (2) e-invoice (載具), and (3) payment (付款) (This is also the order of what the staff will ask of you at the counter)

Note that phone number (電話號碼) is very important since if you forget to bring your phone or it died on you (which happened to me alot in the past), you can just give them your phone number to link the membership. This happens not only in convenience stores but across all of Taiwan that uses a membership system.

Of course, you can’t use it for e-invoice (載具) and payment (付款). You’ll have to opt for the paper receipt and pay in cash/card.

Today was a surprise as I encountered something new from the cashier. I was rushing to buy some food, since I had an upcoming meeting in a few minutes.

As usual, I went to the cashier with my membership barcode ready. She scanned the code and with the chime from their computer, I thought the transaction was completed. By this time, I was already used to not saying anything in the convenience store.

But suddenly, she said: 【發票印嗎？】

I felt all the cogs turning in my brain slowly. I understood what she said but I couldn’t form the response coherently. All I could say was 【存在…】, and thankfully, she understood it.

If you didn’t catch it, she was asking if I wanted the receipt to be printed, and I replied (or tried) that I wanted to save it inside the APP.

Just to let you know, I just finished my Chinese Class at that moment so I was feeling pretty confident with my Chinese skills. But I think Taiwan will always slap me back to reality with my unproficiency 😅