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

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

#521

Post by Torwald »

dithering wrote: post #319
Torwald wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, that's the real reason. Introduced first in France and not by Aldi.

And yet... haven't you noticed that supermarkets in posher areas are less likely to have the coin slot? (Asda and Tesco are two whose policy varies by location). And in supermarkets with large car parks there are return stations all over the car park. Which means you still need to pay trolley herders...

I am not in America, I can't therefore share your observation. But it is not news that crime of all sorts is lower in "posher areas". Of course it is. What's the point you want to go for?

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

#522

Post by rjsw »

tastroder wrote: post #501
anovikov wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha except in EU it's not a quarter, it's 2 euros! And tons of carts still hang around abandoned with 2-coins in them.

In Germany most newer carts take 50ct, 1€, and 2€ coins. The older ones took 1€ (or 1DM before the introduction of the Euro). Abandoned carts on the premises aren't much of a thing anywhere I lived except for maybe the odd lazy person with a plastic coin in it (some.people carry those around e.g. on their key chain for when they don't have coins on hand).

The plastic coins are given out by the shops themselves.

I usually keep one in my pockets, not really out of laziness, I just don't use coins for much these days.

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

#523

Post by fjfaase »

davej wrote: post #517
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…

A couple of things I've noticed here at Aldi in Ireland. Particularly interested in the psychological aspects: - The packing area (after the till) is quite small. This means that if you're not packing quickly and putting items back into the trolley then the till operator will have to stop scanning because of the backlog. They will often make subtle eye-contact (with a smile) when they have to stop, this puts the shop…

This is not the case in my home town, Enschede, less than 5 miles from the German border in The Netherlands. The lines are terribly slow there compared to other supermarkets. I usually spend more than half of my time waiting in the line. (I only go to Aldi for a few products they carry.) There are more and more shops where you do the check-out yourself either at a scan station or with a hand-held scanner. I guess in the Netherlands the price/efficency difference between the various supermarket chains is less.

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

#524

Post by jhbadger »

pnathan wrote: post #223
llamataboot wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it hard to shop at Aldi because of the almost brutal aesthetic. No signage, no colors, no nice lighting, just industrial meta shelves on an industrial floor with bare fluorescent lights overhead and everything jammed together. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. I will however still occasionally run in because although they run out quick almost every day, when they have grass-fed meat and some organ…

I've found that groceries run for and by immigrants have a similar approach. The "experience" Americans crave is revealed to be so vacuous.

Also a lot of restaurants run by (and mostly for) immigrants. They aren't into fancy decor with statues and paintings from the appropriate country the way ones aimed at Westerners tend to be. Cheap tables covered by plastic tablecloths and folding metal chairs work just fine.

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

#525

Post by pjc50 »

everyone wrote: post #122
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> -they combine varieties (like flavors of granola bars) of product in the same box. This greatly reduces the shelf space required. This is the only thing that fails about Aldi. Let's say you want their Chicken Tikka sauce. The mixed boxes mean good chance you won't see it as Tikka always goes first. You go through the whole 6 boxes of inventory, and yep, all sold - the three spaces in every box. Same for pizza - one…

I wonder does that lead to a lot of waste? Eg. the 30% of the box thats the flavour that no-one (at this shop) buys, goes off and is dumped, for every box. Maybe the ratios are determined by their global sales, who knows. You would think that it would be advantageous for each shop to tweak its own ratios.

They basically don't do this for perishables. And they don't seem to restock if there's still some on the shelf. I'm pretty sure they can't afford to waste 30% of a product!

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

#526

Post by jedrek »

jaabe wrote: post #482
hannob wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel quite a few of those things are pretty standard in Europe, so I wonder if ALDI is just exporting european practices to the US. "Coin for a cart" e.g. is almost normal. I noticed that barcodes on all sides of a product is becoming more common, particularly in stores that allow self-scan (ALDI doesn't, but it obviously makes things easier also for customers that self-scan).

That was my thought as well. I live in Denmark, I think ALDI is one of our least efficient supermarket chains which is why they’ve had to fill the niche of low-quality-low-price. I never knew American supermarkets were so terrible. I mean, you read about the Amazon grocery stores and get the picture of Europe being far behind.

Aldi Denmark is the worst Aldi I've ever been to.

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

#527

Post by ClassyJacket »

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…

Also they let the cashiers sit down, which means they get less tired and are therefore more productive.

I can't imagine how much less productive I'd be if I could never sit down at work.

The only reason I can think that Coles\Woolworths\etc\other supermarkets don't do this is that they straight up enjoy being cruel.

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

#528

Post by bonoboTP »

anovikov wrote: post #495
hannob wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel quite a few of those things are pretty standard in Europe, so I wonder if ALDI is just exporting european practices to the US. "Coin for a cart" e.g. is almost normal. I noticed that barcodes on all sides of a product is becoming more common, particularly in stores that allow self-scan (ALDI doesn't, but it obviously makes things easier also for customers that self-scan).

Haha except in EU it's not a quarter, it's 2 euros! And tons of carts still hang around abandoned with 2-coins in them.

What I more often see than carts with coins lying around is people straight-up stealing the carts. If they live in nearby streets they just push the cart home and then use it to carry or store stuff around the yard. You can see several such carts in the streets surrounding supermarkets.

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

#529

Post by bonoboTP »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #527
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…

Also they let the cashiers sit down, which means they get less tired and are therefore more productive. I can't imagine how much less productive I'd be if I could never sit down at work. The only reason I can think that Coles\Woolworths\etc\other supermarkets don't do this is that they straight up enjoy being cruel.

All cashiers sit in Europe, at least in the countries I've seen. But there were quite some scandals of how Lidl (not Aldi) handles toilet breaks and humiliates women cashiers on their period by having them wear bracelets so the manager knows they are allowed a little more toilet breaks.

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

#530

Post by krapp »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #527
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…

Also they let the cashiers sit down, which means they get less tired and are therefore more productive. I can't imagine how much less productive I'd be if I could never sit down at work. The only reason I can think that Coles\Woolworths\etc\other supermarkets don't do this is that they straight up enjoy being cruel.

>I can't imagine how much less productive I'd be if I could never sit down at work.

This is the rule for FC employees at Amazon - you can squat, or kneel, but never sit.

They say it's a safety issue, but I suspect they really just consider pain to be a more effective motivator than comfort.

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