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Aldi's Barcode Strategy

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Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#81

Post by MasterYoda »

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?

Have the same experience when shopping in Germany. Im very supriced how ineffective there system is, with an non excistent area after the cashier. You have to trash all stuff down fast and then pack/repack afterwords somewere else and you get stressed.

The swedish system feels superior in my honest opinion. There is a big area afterword divided by a Y bar so 2 people can be served simultaneous. The 2 top Y boms are electrically controlled by the cashier so groceries goes to either left or right side.

https://www.ica.se/imagevaultfiles/id_53554/cf_6099/kassan.j...

So when one is finshed, that person can pack everything as he/she wants without hurry while the other persons groceries are served simultaneous by the cashier and that persons stuff goes to the other side.

Useally you could pack your stuff without hurry while the 2nd person is served. But if both side temporary is not finish because two big shopper both Y boms could be closed so 3 people could be served simultiously. Two could pack and the 3rds groceries could still be handeled by the cashier.

And not to forgett, everyone in sweden (almost) payes with card which speeds stuff up alot. You pay while the cashier scaning the groceries. When finished you just press "ok".

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#82

Post by draw_down »

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.

I always go for least people. The bottleneck is not the cashier, it is the dolts who seemingly have no idea how to pay at the grocery store, despite ostensibly having done it their whole lives.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#83

Post by germanier »

MasterYoda wrote: post #81
skrebbel wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Have the same experience when shopping in Germany. Im very supriced how ineffective there system is, with an non excistent area after the cashier. You have to trash all stuff down fast and then pack/repack afterwords somewere else and you get stressed. The swedish system feels superior in my honest opinion. There is a big area afterword divided by a Y bar so 2 people can be served simultaneous. The 2 top Y boms are e…

The system is very efficient if you measure throughput. It does not feel as nice and you are pressured to pack very fast which is why the more upmarket stores use the Y-layout or at least a long surface after the cashier (never seen the closing bar in Germany though). Customers stopped caring as it is used for decades now. FWIW I usually pack while the items are scanned which means I can leave as soon as I paid which one can't do with the other layout.

But why card payment is so hideously slow in Germany is something I can't understand. After they gave you the final sum you need to tell the cashier that you want to pay with card, wait for the terminal to light up, insert the card (finally, up until recently you needed to hand the card to the cashier for them to insert it – technically you can insert earlier and it still works but many cashiers don't know and stop the process), wait once more, enter your PIN, wait once more, remove the card, wait again for the receipt to print (otherwise the cashier tells you stay as they can't verify payment before that). In the time it takes you can pay with the same card five times in Sweden – and didn't need to speak a word (great for me as my Swedish is only rudimental).

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#84

Post by konschubert »

germanier wrote: post #9
jankassens wrote: post #4

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.

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…

I was born in 1990 and I have never seen a checkout without a scanner. Do you have a video how the procedure looked like at Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued?

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#85

Post by germanier »

open-source-ux wrote: post #80
dandermotj wrote: post #20

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.

"Aldi and Lidl are blasting through other super market chains with their low cost, high quality goods" Yes, and no. In the UK, I'm glad that Aldi and Lidl are challenging the larger supermarkets, but I would hate to see a situation where a race to the bottom on price means consumers have less choice across the entire supermarket sector. By choice I don't mean 20 brands of ketchup, I mean - to give just one example -…

The race to the bottom in Germany has created a market where food is of good quality but not great. Larger supermarkets do have quite a bit of selection but it's not as good as the stuff you can get in a French or British store. You can get a fair selection of spices in stores other than Aldi or Lidl but sometimes I have the suspicion that it's only the third-class that is left after the stores in neighboring countries have bought their supply.

In Germany Aldi is known as the hardest negotiator and the price setter for basic food. When they lowered the milk price by one fourth to 46 cents recently (which is way too low to cover production cost) all other chains responded within a few hours for their store-brands.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#86

Post by Shivetya »

dandermotj wrote: post #20

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.

in the Southern US I am more surprised by the great quality of their fresh food. While I hit up mostly fruit the vegetables are good too; best damn watermellon I have had short of a farm stop

they also sell really odd stuff at times seemingly totally random too. Once I found bird baths there and another week an four post canopy

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#87

Post by [deleted] »

konschubert wrote: post #84
germanier wrote: post #9

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…

I was born in 1990 and I have never seen a checkout without a scanner. Do you have a video how the procedure looked like at Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued?

[deleted]

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#88

Post by wodenokoto »

germanier wrote: post #17
skrebbel wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The reason why there is so little space is because there are supposed to be baggers. I guess they finally got rid of them to save money.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#89

Post by elevenfist »

Someone1234 wrote: post #75
jernfrost wrote: post #64

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.…

Reads like culture shock to me. I am not dismissing your concerns, but I've had the opposite issues going to the US where everyone is super chatty, seemingly needy, and slow. You go into a store and they yell at you "DO YOU NEED SOMETHING" uhh, no, I'm sorry I came in to look around, is that a crime? The waiting staff return to your table every 30 seconds, and the cashiers are more interested in your life story than…

This made me laugh, you'll get used to it and start to enjoy it eventually. It seems like things are more relaxed wherever you are in the us compared to wherever you were previously.

When it comes to the "Do you need something," it's part of their job, if you're looking for something specific it's good to know that there are people available to help you. They're not asking you if you have a reason to be in the store, hah. Just tell them "I'm just looking around, thanks." And they'll tell you "If you need anything, [specific] let me know."

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#90

Post by systemfreund »

wodenokoto wrote: post #88
germanier wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The reason why there is so little space is because there are supposed to be baggers. I guess they finally got rid of them to save money.

I dont think this is true. In Germany there never has been a 'bagger-culture' :)
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