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I absolutely love Aldi -- they do several big and subtle (with big results) things that other retailers fail on: (1) Their store brands are consistently on-par

by mdip 3y ago

I absolutely love Aldi -- they do several big and subtle (with big results) things that other retailers fail on: (1) Their store brands are consistently on-par or better than the name brands. It's no "Kirkland Signature" but I've found short of about three things, I like the Aldi product better[0]. (2) Their prices are good enough that I don't have to plan with coupons/nonsense. I analyzed this a few years ago (so long ago that newspaper coupons were still the only "real" coupons offered by food vendors) and found it was worth the time savings to skip the chore and just go to Aldi. (3) Their "Aisle of Shame" (close-out random goods) is fun. I frequently find excellent products at ridiculous prices ($30 off-brand blender worked longer than the $200 I replaced it with). (4) Their near-frustration free check-out. Honestly #4 is the reason. Their check-out staff will rip through a cart faster than you can unload the groceries. They can do this because Aldi ensures their store branded products have barcode labels that extend the length of the box and appear on nearly every surface[1] (and they minimize the movements required of their staff to perform that job). You can have 4 people with full carts in front of you and they're cleared out before a typical Walmart scanner handles one half-full cart. When I saw they introduced self-checkout, my heart sunk, but I used it. I think it's the only automated check-out system I've used that works. You get that product anywhere near the laser and it scans. It's amazing how much of that process comes down to the barcode scanner working properly. [0] In one case -- their Mocha iced coffee -- I can't drink other brands any longer [1] In some cases they slap a barcode on non-store branded products.

agloe_dreams 3y ago
Recently, Aldi has started TV brand advertising here in PA, one of their biggest US markets. I was actually shocked by how incredibly core to the store moral their ads are - they literally brag about their smaller sku count, small stores, no cart pushers, and no loyalty cards. The tag line is 'Because, everything we don't do, is for you.'. Here is the over the top holiday ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUWqmctnWa8&ab_channel=ALDIUSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUWqmctnWa8&ab_channel=ALDIU... The newer non-holiday ads are more direct to the point on the checkout efficiency. If I didn't know better, I would say they were working with TBWA\Chiat\Day or re-incarnated steve jobs to run their ad campaign. Edit: It is a Leo Burnett Campaign.
- unraveller 3y ago
  >everything we don't do, is for you This approach is called "Intelligent Refusal" of product selection, when profit:price:customer value ratio trumps any popularity concerns for stocking that product. From the Sol Price (costco) school of thought. I think it works because they recognize you don't have to delight the end-user as much as the purchaser, the end-user can just ask for more of another product to fix any short comings like dryness or lack of taste.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
Not a grocery store, but Uniqlo's self checkout is dead simple: you dump your clothes into a bin at the checkout, and it scans them all at once. Done. (I mean, you still have to pay, but the scanning part is basically instant)
- joezydeco 3y ago
  That was always the dream of the big retailers: push a cart through a gateway and your order is tallied instantly. However, you need RFID tags on each and every item in the store, including produce and things you scooped into bags yourself. And, at Walmart scale, adding $0.02 per item in packaging is probably a margin killer. Uniqlo is able to do this because they produce and tag the items by themselves. I agree it's cool, but it's a very narrow case.
DavidPeiffer 3y ago
Totally agree with #4. My wife recently double scanned an item at the self checkout. At every other store, this means deleting the item from the scan list then waiting for an employee to come over, login, and approve the removal. Nope, not at Aldi! She deleted the item, it alerted the employee, then the employee at the next checker over called out "Did that fix it for you?". The employee was able to handle that right from their POS station without getting up. A friend used to work at Target and mentioned their self checkout minimum time between scans is dramatically larger than on the checker POS.
- joezydeco 3y ago
  Protip for Target: every self-checkout has a barcode gun. You can check out significantly faster if you use that instead of the built-in scanner.
- tennisflyi 3y ago
  Every Walmart employee who works SCO can do that with their company issued phone…
- calamari4065 3y ago
  The thing is, all self checkout systems have remote access like that. When I was at Kroger, corporate demanded that you never use it and instead walk over to every single kiosk every time and go through the ordeal of logging into maintenance mode and fixing the problem. The software tracked how many times you did a remote action and you'd get chewed out for it. That's why you have to wait for the single employee to fix 12 machines one at a time. It's not a technical limitation at all. Corporate thinks that the "personal" interaction is more valuable than immediately fixing your problem with no waiting. Aldi respects your time. Kroger et al only care about MY BRAND
mr337 3y ago
100% agree with #4. Enjoy it while it lasts though. All the Aldis near us for us have removed almost all of the checkout lines for the self check out. They are the worst. Imaging shopping for a large family with a fully loaded card and have to scan 100+ items.
zdragnar 3y ago
Alas, our local Aldi has almost completely gotten rid of the old checkouts. Now it's typically one staffed checkout lane, with the rest all being self checkout. I don't mind self checkout for small purchases, but when I've got $200 worth of groceries, plus family in tow, I really don't want to deal with self checkout at all.
- vlachen 3y ago
  I only have one tiny human in tow whenever I hit up Aldi, but my trick is this: Let them run the scanner gun. The minion hates going to the store, but they love being able to pull that trigger. I just have them hold it and then I point the barcode in their direction and say "Scan" or "Fire." That makes the self-checkout halfway livable.
  - tstenner 3y ago
    Our local discounter has scanner guns you can give your kids to scan everything while shopping. At the checkout, you just put it back, pay the total and off you go. It keeps the kids happy and if you put everything directly into your bags it's all packed and ready to go.
maho 3y ago
If memory serves correctly, Aldi Nord was one of the last big supermarket chains in Germany to introduce scanners at the registers (2003?), because their existing system was simply faster: Each item had a three-digit code, and all cashiers knew all codes by heart. It was a race between me placing items on the conveyor belt and them ringing the items up. Oh the embarrassment when they told me the total as I was placing the last item on the conveyor belt.
- CaptainZapp 3y ago
  > Aldi Nord was one of the last big supermarket chains in Germany to introduce scanners at the registers (2003?) Aldi US is owned by Aldi Süd. Aldi Nord Owns Trader Joe's.[0] They are two distinct entities now which carve out the markets between them. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi

by mdip 3y ago

agloe_dreams 3y ago

Recently, Aldi has started TV brand advertising here in PA, one of their biggest US markets. I was actually shocked by how incredibly core to the store moral their ads are - they literally brag about their smaller sku count, small stores, no cart pushers, and no loyalty cards. The tag line is 'Because, everything we don't do, is for you.'. Here is the over the top holiday ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUWqmctnWa8&ab_channel=ALDIUSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUWqmctnWa8&ab_channel=ALDIU... The newer non-holiday ads are more direct to the point on the checkout efficiency. If I didn't know better, I would say they were working with TBWA\Chiat\Day or re-incarnated steve jobs to run their ad campaign. Edit: It is a Leo Burnett Campaign.

unraveller 3y ago
>everything we don't do, is for you This approach is called "Intelligent Refusal" of product selection, when profit:price:customer value ratio trumps any popularity concerns for stocking that product. From the Sol Price (costco) school of thought. I think it works because they recognize you don't have to delight the end-user as much as the purchaser, the end-user can just ask for more of another product to fix any short comings like dryness or lack of taste.

TulliusCicero 3y ago

Not a grocery store, but Uniqlo's self checkout is dead simple: you dump your clothes into a bin at the checkout, and it scans them all at once. Done. (I mean, you still have to pay, but the scanning part is basically instant)

joezydeco 3y ago
That was always the dream of the big retailers: push a cart through a gateway and your order is tallied instantly. However, you need RFID tags on each and every item in the store, including produce and things you scooped into bags yourself. And, at Walmart scale, adding $0.02 per item in packaging is probably a margin killer. Uniqlo is able to do this because they produce and tag the items by themselves. I agree it's cool, but it's a very narrow case.

DavidPeiffer 3y ago

Totally agree with #4. My wife recently double scanned an item at the self checkout. At every other store, this means deleting the item from the scan list then waiting for an employee to come over, login, and approve the removal. Nope, not at Aldi! She deleted the item, it alerted the employee, then the employee at the next checker over called out "Did that fix it for you?". The employee was able to handle that right from their POS station without getting up. A friend used to work at Target and mentioned their self checkout minimum time between scans is dramatically larger than on the checker POS.

joezydeco 3y ago
Protip for Target: every self-checkout has a barcode gun. You can check out significantly faster if you use that instead of the built-in scanner.
tennisflyi 3y ago
Every Walmart employee who works SCO can do that with their company issued phone…
calamari4065 3y ago
The thing is, all self checkout systems have remote access like that. When I was at Kroger, corporate demanded that you never use it and instead walk over to every single kiosk every time and go through the ordeal of logging into maintenance mode and fixing the problem. The software tracked how many times you did a remote action and you'd get chewed out for it. That's why you have to wait for the single employee to fix 12 machines one at a time. It's not a technical limitation at all. Corporate thinks that the "personal" interaction is more valuable than immediately fixing your problem with no waiting. Aldi respects your time. Kroger et al only care about MY BRAND

mr337 3y ago

100% agree with #4. Enjoy it while it lasts though. All the Aldis near us for us have removed almost all of the checkout lines for the self check out. They are the worst. Imaging shopping for a large family with a fully loaded card and have to scan 100+ items.

zdragnar 3y ago

Alas, our local Aldi has almost completely gotten rid of the old checkouts. Now it's typically one staffed checkout lane, with the rest all being self checkout. I don't mind self checkout for small purchases, but when I've got $200 worth of groceries, plus family in tow, I really don't want to deal with self checkout at all.

vlachen 3y ago
I only have one tiny human in tow whenever I hit up Aldi, but my trick is this: Let them run the scanner gun. The minion hates going to the store, but they love being able to pull that trigger. I just have them hold it and then I point the barcode in their direction and say "Scan" or "Fire." That makes the self-checkout halfway livable.
- tstenner 3y ago
  Our local discounter has scanner guns you can give your kids to scan everything while shopping. At the checkout, you just put it back, pay the total and off you go. It keeps the kids happy and if you put everything directly into your bags it's all packed and ready to go.

maho 3y ago

If memory serves correctly, Aldi Nord was one of the last big supermarket chains in Germany to introduce scanners at the registers (2003?), because their existing system was simply faster: Each item had a three-digit code, and all cashiers knew all codes by heart. It was a race between me placing items on the conveyor belt and them ringing the items up. Oh the embarrassment when they told me the total as I was placing the last item on the conveyor belt.

CaptainZapp 3y ago
> Aldi Nord was one of the last big supermarket chains in Germany to introduce scanners at the registers (2003?) Aldi US is owned by Aldi Süd. Aldi Nord Owns Trader Joe's.[0] They are two distinct entities now which carve out the markets between them. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi