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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

#571

Post by glenndebacker »

kzrdude wrote: post #489
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).

Euro here, I don't think chasing the bottom of the barrel is worth celebrating. Also, Germany has the worst standard of grocery stores (I'd prefer grocery stores in general from neighboring France, Switzerland etc) due to their assortment and quality of products - and Aldi and Lidl are responsible for that.

I don’t know about the quality it’s not particularly bad as they also have a brands but Lidl is certainly not all about efficiency. Not those here in Belgium regardless where you go to the Lidl.

I really dislike going there. They have 8 cash registers and open only on or two. The reason being that they are understaffed and employees have a gazillion of tasks: baking, unloading, stock, cash register,...

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

#572

Post by chrisan »

glenndebacker wrote: post #568
iforgotpassword wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think ALDI being low quality is mostly a myth, just assumed because of their low prices. The only thing I don't but there is meat, greatly prefer the local butcher.

In some cases the cheaper Aldi products is the same as the more expensive product from another store. When I was younger there was no difference between olé’s chocolate and Leo with the exception of the package. It was the same taste and factory producing them.

If you have a thing for Girl Scout cookies, the Aldi generics taste just the same for a fraction of the price

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

#573

Post by nswest23 »

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…

I've never successfully purchased anything at aldi. Generally what happens is I'll walk in, grab what I want, proceed to the checkout, notice that there's only one register with at least 10 people in line and I'll drop whatever it is I went in to get and leave. I can't be bothered to wait that long to save 14 cents on eggs.

On the other hand my wife goes there somewhat frequently and is able to buy things in a reasonable amount of time so maybe it's just me.

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

#574

Post by krzyk »

sorenjan wrote: post #333
freeflight wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having somebody collect the trolleys creates a job, having somebody pack the groceries creates another job, just like having somebody do the refueling of your car at the gas station. They are not especially demanding or well-paying jobs, but the shift to service-driven economies isn't a new thing nor particularly exclusive to the US.

That's one of the biggest differences between the US and Sweden, and probably most of Europe; access to cheap labor. Too cheap, if you ask me. You could never employ somebody as a greeter here, or to pack your groceries, or to pump your gas, or other extremely menial and near useless jobs. Can people really support themselves on those, or are they forced to work multiple jobs? It's actually becoming relevant here, be…

A colleague of mine was in our India office once and he said that they had a: - person that pushes buttons in elevator (at office, not some exclusive hotel) - person that you ask to to copies at xerox machine in the office

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

#575

Post by tdb7893 »

nswest23 wrote: post #573
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…

I've never successfully purchased anything at aldi. Generally what happens is I'll walk in, grab what I want, proceed to the checkout, notice that there's only one register with at least 10 people in line and I'll drop whatever it is I went in to get and leave. I can't be bothered to wait that long to save 14 cents on eggs. On the other hand my wife goes there somewhat frequently and is able to buy things in a reason…

I'm my experience if there's a long line of people like that they are great about opening another line. I've had that experience at multiple Aldi stores so maybe yours was just understaffed or something.

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

#577

Post by jdeibele »

Jill_the_Pill wrote: post #337
deathanatos wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

… /s. I really hate trying to turn into a spot that's flanked by two SUVs only to find a cart in the way. People are incredibly lazy. I love the ALDI's quarter scheme… it's just enough of a nudge to get people to do the decent thing.

I find that funny because we were taught growing up that leaving your cart out keeps the cart-collecting people employed, kind of like refusing to use the self-service checkout -- a different decent thing!

I never heard that one but my mom refused to learn how to use ATMs because she wanted to have tellers. Same with any sort of self-scan groceries. And Oregon is one of two states where you can't pump your own gas.

Do you do that consistently now that you're an adult? Do you bus your own tables at local restaurants (small business owner) but not at franchise restaurants?

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

#578

Post by ce4 »

pgeorgi wrote: post #515
Odenwaelder wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They didn't enter the barcodes from memory, they entered the price of the item from memory. That alone is a feat, though.

Back then they had much less variation in inventory and very limited price groups: all products fit into the ~10 tiers they had, ranging from 0.19 to 3.99 or so. The increased variation in inventory and the scanners came at about the same time, and they only did that when they figured out how to keep their famous checkout speed. (and it's still slightly slower than it was back then)

Yep, during peak hours you feared Aldi checkout back then.

When the queue was full the best cashiers would really stress you by observing you putting stuff onto the belt and already starting to enter prices ahead of them reaching their area (where now the scanner is). Half way through loading the stuff into the cart again the cashier would urge you to pay and the next customer's items started bumping into yours. It was very efficient and stressy, best you were two guys to share loading/unloading and paying (back then payment was only possible in cash).

The scanners eased that a bit :)

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

#579

Post by V-2 »

troels wrote: post #562
V-2 wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still used for fruit and veggies - at least a few years back, in England. Up to 100 codes to memorize, but some would come and go every week or so.

Yeah, but for those they have a cheat sheet next to the register.

It's not practical to use them in the long run, you pretty much have to memorize them to be able to meet the company standards for till speed. And memorization is expected by the management. At least that was the case when I used to work at Aldi's (in the UK, quite a while ago).

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

#580

Post by NeedMoreTea »

Brakenshire wrote: post #503
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forgot that's what kicked store brands off in the first place. > unit cost of marketing. I strongly speculate this is the main reason for Kraft Heinz’s struggles Accidentally so revealing: Kraft have aimed a bullet carefully and precisely at themselves, Heinz are indistinguishable from Aldi and have nothing unique to offer but expense. Asda and Tesco own brands were always how not to do it, or almost do it. Corn fl…

The upmarket own brands in Tesco are good. Usually cheaper than the brand name but made with proper ingredients, like Pesto made with olive oil rather than sunflower oil. It is interesting how brands have just completely hollowed themselves out through milking profits and producing at substandard quality. If a brand doesn’t stand for quality what does it stand for? Many have gone for nostalgia and marketing, and they…

Yeah some of those Finest and Taste the Difference were great. Often much nicer than brands. One or other produced the only shop bought cake I ever encountered with a taste and texture of home-made.

Amazing there ended up so much space beneath brands there could be 3 or 4 (with organic) distinct ranges of own brands.

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