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Something I've been working on in my spare time is a database of grocery staples (about 200 items, plus 80 common cleaning/toiletry items), their costs (per ite

by MrFoof 10y ago

Something I've been working on in my spare time is a database of grocery staples (about 200 items, plus 80 common cleaning/toiletry items), their costs (per item, unit price, per package), and where you can get them for that price. Regular everyday price, not sale prices. Aldi not only outcompetes most supermarkets -- including ones that are traditionally considered inexpensive like Market Basket -- but can go toe-to-toe with warehouse clubs and bulk services like Amazon Subscribe & Save. Having spent far more time in supermarkets than I'd care to admit, it's pretty obvious as to why: * The stores are smaller. They pay less in rent. * They have a limited selection of inventory. Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. * As a result of the first two items, they don't need much in the way of staff to cover the store. They're spending their time restocking the store as stuff runs out, so things don't run out. However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. * Which is 9AM. They also close at 9AM. Not running 24 hours means lower costs. * They have few registers. My local store has four. However they don't bag your groceries. Your groceries get dumped into another cart at the end of the register, and you go pack it yourself. The speed in which a person can be checked out is VERY quick as a result. * You pay $0.25 for a cart, and get it back when you return it. The upside is no one is outside rounding up carts. * They provide no bags. At all. Though they'll happily let you take the empty boxes items came in. Compared to the local BigCo supermarket chain, they come in at about 40% cheaper, even if you're buying store brand from the BigCo chain. On many items, they undercut both the local BJs and Costco, despite not selling that kind of quantity. They do it by providing exactly what you need at a grocery store, and nothing you don't. Even compared to Market Basket -- which I do love and still go to for some things -- they still easily come in 15% cheaper. There are some things I can't get at Aldi (so I'll go to Market Basket, as I'll go to Trader Joe's to get high quality produce easier), but damned if they aren't a super efficient setup.

ghaff 10y ago
ALDI stuck a store in essentially the parking lot of my local Walmart. I stuck my nose in once and they didn't seem to have anything of interest. Fine, I'm not their demographic. But I also don't observe a lot of traffic when I go by. (I do use the Walmart because it's convenient and has staples that I need so it's convenient.)
Someone 10y ago
"Which is 9AM. They also close at 9AM." I guess you mean 9PM. In Europe, they also don't have shelves for all products. They often just ride the carts directly from a truck into the shop, letting customers open the boxes and take out items. Yes, that means they do not price individual items, either. I don't know whether that has changed now that everything has a barcode, but their personnel just used to know a short _code_ for every product, and the register knew what it cost. It also used to be impossible to call Aldi shops because they didn't have land lines. That cuts more costs as one would think, because personnel that answers the phone cannot do other work. Aldi is really "lean and mean".
- dashundchen 10y ago
  The barcodes on the private label products in American Aldis usually have a barcode on ever possible side, with a bigger than usual surface area. Cereal boxes will have one on ever side for example. It makes checkout fast. A full cart can be scanned in under a minute. On the other hand I hate the shrink-wrapped produce. I get that it avoids scales, speeds checkout, and reduces waste from customers handling for the "perfect" produce, but three peppers wrapped to a styrofoam tray feels so wasteful.
  - kennydude 10y ago
    The barcodes are the same in the UK. Fun seeing people struggle with the idea of just putting your shopping back into your trolley and packing after paying.
Severian 10y ago
> Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. True, they do have your staples (your meats, veg, and dairy), but to say they have "very little", at least in my experience, is simply not true. In fact, the wife and I get most of our boxed and canned goods at Aldi. > However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. > They provide no bags. At all. Though they'll happily let you take the empty boxes items came in. Not true. Again, at least where I am at. They offer paper bags for $0.10 and heavier reusable plastic for $0.30 (to the best of my recollection). They also offer the washable heavy-duty fabric variety as well.
- MrFoof 10y ago
  >Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. I should've clarified more on the "fancy pre-made items". Most of the larger national chain supermarkets have grown more and more into this. In particular, one location in my area (in an affluent neighborhood) has dedicated over 1/3rd of its floor space to "hot and ready to eat" take-out style food, prepared on-site, and priced at $10/pound (excluding things like sushi). It's a common sight to see a cart filled with nothing but basically take-out boxes, bakery items, bottled water, and alcohol. That particular store in that particular location, if I included frozen meals, and boxed/canned meals, it's literally 3 out of every 4 square feet. >However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. No, this is more of living in a major city, and the location's relatively small size (the adjacent CVS is about 50% larger). I would compare the size of its produce area to 16-20% of that of a typical chain supermarket. As it result, it depletes very quickly. This means that the highest quality stuff is gone within 10-15 minutes of open. I wouldn't say that's unique to Aldi either. If you don't go to Market Basket close to open, don't expect high-quality produce to be there when you show up, and some items may be gone entirely. The reason being is the area MBs are always packed except right at open.

by MrFoof 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago

ALDI stuck a store in essentially the parking lot of my local Walmart. I stuck my nose in once and they didn't seem to have anything of interest. Fine, I'm not their demographic. But I also don't observe a lot of traffic when I go by. (I do use the Walmart because it's convenient and has staples that I need so it's convenient.)

Someone 10y ago

"Which is 9AM. They also close at 9AM." I guess you mean 9PM. In Europe, they also don't have shelves for all products. They often just ride the carts directly from a truck into the shop, letting customers open the boxes and take out items. Yes, that means they do not price individual items, either. I don't know whether that has changed now that everything has a barcode, but their personnel just used to know a short _code_ for every product, and the register knew what it cost. It also used to be impossible to call Aldi shops because they didn't have land lines. That cuts more costs as one would think, because personnel that answers the phone cannot do other work. Aldi is really "lean and mean".

dashundchen 10y ago
The barcodes on the private label products in American Aldis usually have a barcode on ever possible side, with a bigger than usual surface area. Cereal boxes will have one on ever side for example. It makes checkout fast. A full cart can be scanned in under a minute. On the other hand I hate the shrink-wrapped produce. I get that it avoids scales, speeds checkout, and reduces waste from customers handling for the "perfect" produce, but three peppers wrapped to a styrofoam tray feels so wasteful.
- kennydude 10y ago
  The barcodes are the same in the UK. Fun seeing people struggle with the idea of just putting your shopping back into your trolley and packing after paying.

Severian 10y ago

> Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. True, they do have your staples (your meats, veg, and dairy), but to say they have "very little", at least in my experience, is simply not true. In fact, the wife and I get most of our boxed and canned goods at Aldi. > However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. > They provide no bags. At all. Though they'll happily let you take the empty boxes items came in. Not true. Again, at least where I am at. They offer paper bags for $0.10 and heavier reusable plastic for $0.30 (to the best of my recollection). They also offer the washable heavy-duty fabric variety as well.

MrFoof 10y ago
>Don't expect lots of pre-prepared food, and fancy pre-made items. In fact, expect very little. It's mostly staples with some extremely common packaged convenience foods. In my experience, I would have to disagree. For what I have seen at the two nearest stores to me, 50% of the store's inventory is boxed, canned, and frozen foods. I should've clarified more on the "fancy pre-made items". Most of the larger national chain supermarkets have grown more and more into this. In particular, one location in my area (in an affluent neighborhood) has dedicated over 1/3rd of its floor space to "hot and ready to eat" take-out style food, prepared on-site, and priced at $10/pound (excluding things like sushi). It's a common sight to see a cart filled with nothing but basically take-out boxes, bakery items, bottled water, and alcohol. That particular store in that particular location, if I included frozen meals, and boxed/canned meals, it's literally 3 out of every 4 square feet. >However if you want some items, your best bet is to go at open. I've been at our stores pretty much at random hours and have never been disappointed in the quantity of inventory. It sounds like you might be visiting a mismanaged store. No, this is more of living in a major city, and the location's relatively small size (the adjacent CVS is about 50% larger). I would compare the size of its produce area to 16-20% of that of a typical chain supermarket. As it result, it depletes very quickly. This means that the highest quality stuff is gone within 10-15 minutes of open. I wouldn't say that's unique to Aldi either. If you don't go to Market Basket close to open, don't expect high-quality produce to be there when you show up, and some items may be gone entirely. The reason being is the area MBs are always packed except right at open.