61–70 of 274 posts
They used to type in short (3 or 4 digits) codes for the products at Aldi in Germany maybe 10 years ago. I assume they did this because the scanner technology was not as fast. The cashiers memorized the codes and were crazy fast.
I noticed at line in Costco the cashier's assistant rearranged by stuff on the belt to have the barcodes facing up and in the same direction. Costco could probably save some money by putting barcodes on every side of everything.
I'm inspired to visit Aldi's again. It's been years. I remember them as being a rather depressing very low budget ambiance, dimly lit by a few flourescent tubes with an awful color spectrum, and populated by a sad bunch of customers who looked like their next option was the local community kitchen. Kind of like the typical older Kmart that's about to go out of business.
Interesting with the article that they explained why it was so fast. I actually just thought Germans were super fast at everything in general.
I could't figure out how to pack my groceries as fast as they scanned them and get time to pay without holding up the line.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds like hell. It's already awful waiting for some old woman to rifle through coupons, and pay by check. The fact that she now has to bag all her food would make me just leave the line.
Well, they have no coupons and accept no checks. Plus, many old people that need a walking frame are actually better with moving stuff into the shopping cart then I am (not that I'm particularly slow).
Visited Aldi and Lidl in Germany and I am sorry but I can't help hating those stores. It all looks so cheap and barebones that I get depressed just being there. And then the whole experience with the cashier is hyper stressful and they are so blinding fast at scanning the groceries. It is like you are subject to some German Blitzkrieg or something. Interesting with the article that they explained why it was so fast.…
I'm inspired to visit Aldi's again. It's been years. I remember them as being a rather depressing very low budget ambiance, dimly lit by a few flourescent tubes with an awful color spectrum, and populated by a sad bunch of customers who looked like their next option was the local community kitchen. Kind of like the typical older Kmart that's about to go out of business.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aldi Süd cashiers learned the prices. They actually choose prices that were easier to type and as few different prices as possible. Barcode scanners were installed in 2000 in anticipation of the Euro introduction. Aldi Nord cashiers learned three digit codes (around 800 ones). Scanners were only introduced in 2003 because they started to sell loose produce which is weighted at the checkout. Additionally, that allowed…
And they ordered the POS software from two companies - at the same time. When the two companies finished the development, they paid both of them but choosed the better one which is now in production...
They also have full rights to the source code and in-house developers to do small changes.
The hardware is supplied by a different company that also has software on offer. But apparently that is not good enough.
I'm inspired to visit Aldi's again. It's been years. I remember them as being a rather depressing very low budget ambiance, dimly lit by a few flourescent tubes with an awful color spectrum, and populated by a sad bunch of customers who looked like their next option was the local community kitchen. Kind of like the typical older Kmart that's about to go out of business.