Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets • Hacker News Board

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#161

Post by troels » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:51 PM UTC

MrsPeaches wrote: post #124

froindt wrote: post #96

I'm an industrial engineer and geek out about Aldi frequently. Here are a few things I've noticed (and researched) which differentiate them from others. -they have barcode on 5 or 6 sides of their products, and they're typically huge! They nearly never need to orient a product to scan it. Their scan speed is far faster than any other supermarket I've been at. -if two products are very similar, they'll change the pack…

> They can glance down and count how many of each, scan one, then hit the number pad for the quantity. I haven't seen the number pad used extensively at any other grocer. I spent a lot of time in Germany in the 90s. Aldi (and Lidl) hadn't switched to barcode scanners and the chashiers were still typing in product numbers by hand. I was always super impressed with the speed with which they typed and it certainly felt…

They stuck to it for a long time and the argument was indeed speed and to some extend ergonomics (the cashier doesn't need to lift up items). There is a system to it (100-199 is liquor, 400-499 dairy etc.), so it's fairly easy to memorise it.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#162

Post by task_queue » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:51 PM UTC

m0zg wrote: post #121

I find it remarkable how positive the tone is of this article compared to how a decade or two ago US mainstream media was wailing about WalMart killing mom&pop shops and corner grocery stores. I wonder why that is? If anything once this chain expands it'll drive all the remaining small grocers out of business, since it's considerably cheaper than even walmart.

Post-Walmart/2008 America is living paycheck to paycheck. It's harder to vilify those who undercut competitors if that means people get to eat this week.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#163

Post by kodablah » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:51 PM UTC

thinkling wrote: post #148

Another thing: I'm guessing they don't have paid staff to bag groceries for customers like many US stores, but what they may have that's common in Europe but unknown in the US: the boat-tiller-like divider in the conveyor belt space past the cashier. Customer A's things get rung up and continue to side A. When done with customer A, the cashier shoves the divider across so the belt now takes customer B's stuff to side…

> unknown in the US

Commonly seen in the US in fact, such as in WinCo stores [0].

0 - https://images.app.goo.gl/HN1mQyCw5fUbcnTr8

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#164

Post by zaat » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:52 PM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #129

antnisp wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's so weird is that all those sound rudimentary rather than innovative to my european ears.

Yep. The most notable thing about Aldi (and similar competitor Lidl) from a UK perspective is that they pay above average for comparable supermarket jobs and reduce staffing accordingly. But I remember putting coins into slots for a trolley (and reclaiming them!) when I was young enough to be sitting in the child seat nearly 30 years ago, long before Aldi was a factor in the UK market. Is this really an innovative co…

Over here it is very common to have a plastic or metal coin shaped objects attached to key rings for releasing the trolley without a coin, most of those devices can be pulled out immediately, without connecting the trolley back to the trolleys on queue.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#165

Post by petra » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:52 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #21

petra wrote: post #14

Most of those things are easy to do and easy to copy. But how do you find private label suppliers for 1000+ products, how do you know how to define great products, how do you verify that, and do you still manage prices low ? That's a key skill aldi acquired over decades, and it's really hard to copy.

Most grocery stores have more private label products than Aldi. It isn't hard, most produces of product will put whatever label you want one (within what is legal) if you order a quantity.

So if I go to a grocery store, and buy only their private labels - would the products be great, as people here describe Aldi?

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#166

Post by Improvotter » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:54 PM UTC

It's strange to see this hit the US only just now. Chains like these are huge in Europe. In Belgium, where I live, Aldi isn't very big. They're being outplayed by a bigger local player: Colruyt. Aldi stores are usually pretty small while Colruyt stores are pretty large. You can see the staff driving around carts inside of the store to put everything on the shelves. They also always have a huge refrigerator room instead of seperate refrigerators. It allows for them to drive into these rooms so everything is faster as well.

Colruyt also got subsidiaries that have smaller stores for city centres like Okay which is just a tad smaller because it's in the city centres. Colruyt's own stores are often in smaller cities or around towns where there's plenty of room to build a store.

The reason Aldi is not very big in Belgium is because they're perceived as being lower quality. Perhaps it's because people don't want to change brands, but want to pay a lower price. They can get the same items/brands at Colruyt, but for a lower price. From personal experience I can also say that Aldi stores aren't as pleasant to shop in as Colruyt. This is because Aldi's aesthetics are pretty old. It feels like you're walking in some old store that's from the 90s or older. Colruyt and Okay stores feel more like you're walking into a warehouse.

Just my two cents. I just went shopping to Okay today and on other days I go to a Spar, which is also a Colruyt subsidiary, but a tad bti more upscale. Though not as upscale as Delhaize in Belgium. Delhaize is one of the more expensive ones, though you also get some more upscale items like freshly made juice, fresh sushi, fresh lobsters... compared to the others. They can be either owned independently or by the chain. The ones that are owned independently are imo better because they often have "home-made" food because they've got a bakery, kitchen, and butcher and it's of good quality. (I personally adore one of the Delhaize's bakeries at my parents' house.)

That's all. What a rant.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#167

Post by glitcher » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:54 PM UTC

WinCo Foods in some of the western US states attempts to drive down costs with some similar tactics, although not to nearly the extent that it sounds like Aldi does. Plus WinCo is employee owned, which I think is kinda cool.

In the western US states, I only see Aldi locations in southern California currently. It will be interesting to see how they affect other competitors as they expand to more cities out here.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#168

Post by bunderbunder » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:54 PM UTC

thinkling wrote: post #148

Another thing: I'm guessing they don't have paid staff to bag groceries for customers like many US stores, but what they may have that's common in Europe but unknown in the US: the boat-tiller-like divider in the conveyor belt space past the cashier. Customer A's things get rung up and continue to side A. When done with customer A, the cashier shoves the divider across so the belt now takes customer B's stuff to side…

At least at the Aldi I shop at, they don't even have that. The cashier is at the very end of the line; the next thing past them is a shopping cart, and scanned items get placed directly into it.

When you're done paying, you wheel that cart away, leave the one you had in its place, and go to a separate counter where you can bag or box your stuff.

If you had a basket, you throw the basket in the cart, the cashier drops stuff in there, and you take it with you. Which, they didn't mention this in the article, but that's also nice - it encourages customers to put their baskets back in the stack by the door. Which, again, saves everyone time. Employees don't have to stop what they're doing to collect baskets and move them to the door, and customers don't have to wander around the checkout aisles looking for baskets stashed under the conveyor when the stack by the door is empty because things are too busy for that to happen.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#169

Post by Izkata » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:57 PM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #129

antnisp wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's so weird is that all those sound rudimentary rather than innovative to my european ears.

Yep. The most notable thing about Aldi (and similar competitor Lidl) from a UK perspective is that they pay above average for comparable supermarket jobs and reduce staffing accordingly. But I remember putting coins into slots for a trolley (and reclaiming them!) when I was young enough to be sitting in the child seat nearly 30 years ago, long before Aldi was a factor in the UK market. Is this really an innovative co…

I can't remember where, but I know I've seen those magnetic locks somewhere in Chicago, I think around 10 years ago while in college.

Re: Aldi, a brutally efficient grocery chain, is upending America's supermarkets

#170

Post by kodablah » Fri, May 17, 2019, 9:57 PM UTC

glitcher wrote: post #167

WinCo Foods in some of the western US states attempts to drive down costs with some similar tactics, although not to nearly the extent that it sounds like Aldi does. Plus WinCo is employee owned, which I think is kinda cool. In the western US states, I only see Aldi locations in southern California currently. It will be interesting to see how they affect other competitors as they expand to more cities out here.

In north Texas and Oklahoma, you'll find Aldi and WinCo as essentially neighbors.