Aldi's Barcode Strategy • Hacker News Board

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#11

Post by zeveb » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:33 PM UTC

gumby wrote: post #7

Thanks for footnoting Dallas. Aldi being German I thought of a different example: that approach is how we ended up with France, Germany and Lorraine (of the famous Alsace-Lorraine fights between F & G). It was the three sons of Charlemagne...still very visible today!

Oh shoot, that means that when the local Sinclair station sell gas for less that at a nearby Chevron, Trader Joe's & Aldi are going to engage in a price war which will somehow end up bankrupting Safeway, ultimately resulting in a nationwide A&P hegemony. Or something.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#12

Post by donjh » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:36 PM UTC

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

You have to bring your own bags over here too - not sure if they sell them, I haven't been to an Aldi in a while.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#13

Post by sdtransier » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:36 PM UTC

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

It's the same here in the U.S, bring your own or buy their plastic reusable ones. The locations I've been too sometimes had spare boxes you could use, but that was pretty rare.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#14

Post by PeanutNore » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:36 PM UTC

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

You bag your own. Generally the cashier puts the scanned items in an empty cart sitting there for that purpose, then you swap your empty cart for the one with your purchases in it and wheel it over to a counter against the wall to bag or box them up - at the counter there is a stockpile of empty boxes that you can take.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#15

Post by vermontdevil » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:37 PM UTC

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

Yes. We bag on our own. Also we have to deposit a quarter to use the shopping cart. And it seems these stores have only 2 or 3 employees at any given time.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#16

Post by arundelo » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:38 PM UTC

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

You bag the groceries yourself in the U.S. too. The cashier puts them in a shopping cart which you take to a nearby long counter where you bag them. (They charge for bags but sometimes there are empty cardboard shipping boxes at the counter that you can use.)

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#17

Post by germanier » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:39 PM UTC

skrebbel wrote: post #8

nacho2sweet wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying groceries Germany Aldi's and Lidos was the most stressful part of my time there.

Why?

Usually they scan items faster than you can bag them. The area after the scanner is very small and takes only few items so you have to move fast.

I saw below that US Aldi cashiers put the items into a grocery cart. That doesn't happen in Germany as you are expected to do that yourself.

Everyone has their own strategy of how to place items onto the line to slow down the cashier at just the right moment.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#18

Post by bluedino » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:41 PM UTC

anotheryou wrote: post #2

They are so fast, that I change strategies on which line to choose. Usually less stuff to be checked out in front of you is good, but at aldi I go for least people, no matter how much stuff they loaded. This might be even more significant in germany, where many pay cash and you get every cent back in change.

>> where many pay cash and you get every cent back in change.

Aldi just started accepting cards in the US a short while ago

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#19

Post by bluedino » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:41 PM UTC

vermontdevil wrote: post #15

herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

Yes. We bag on our own. Also we have to deposit a quarter to use the shopping cart. And it seems these stores have only 2 or 3 employees at any given time.

>> And it seems these stores have only 2 or 3 employees at any given time.

Interestingly, Aldi's starts the payscale at double the minimum wage, or about $18/hr in the US

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#20

Post by dandermotj » Tue, Jun 14, 2016, 6:46 PM UTC

Aldi and Lidl are blasting through other super market chains with their low cost, high quality goods. If there were ever perfect case studies for usurping incumbents in a sharply competitive market Aldi and Lidl are it.