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Aldi's Barcode Strategy

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Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#171

Post by wirrbel »

StudyAnimal wrote: post #161
nommm-nommm wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Germany I never encountered cashiers to comment on the goods I bought (I don't mind much, but it still felt a bit like an intrusion in privacy. I once bought a glass of Ghee - a common ingredient in southern german cuisine - and the cashier went on and on about how unusual it was that a white guy would buy it) In the US service employees are required to be fake "friendly." This was an attempt at that. I hate it myse…

Its not really. Most people would get it from the "asian shop", but many "German" supermarkets have a small shelf for "international" stuff like asian noodles, taco shells and russian stuff.

Seriously, Ghee is Butterschmalz

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#172

Post by foxylion »

randallsquared wrote: post #146
Someone1234 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I dislike both extremes. I agree with your parent post about Aldi being depressing in character, but it's not just the bareness and speed, it's the herding. I've been in an Aldi recently only once, and had gone in just to look around and see if I wanted to shop there in the future. Once inside, I realized that there was no path back outside except through a cashier. Look around and leave? Oh, no, you will buy somethi…

You can just pass the cashier without buying anything. The cashier won't even notice you. Nearly every bigger supermarket in Germany has only exits at the cashier.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#173

Post by foxylion »

atomwaffel wrote: post #72
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.…

> It all looks so cheap and barebones that I get depressed just being there. Can I ask which part of Germany you've been to – or rather which Aldi (Nord or Süd)? There's a surprising amount of difference between the two and I've always found one of them far nicer than the other.

Aldi "Süd" is the more modern one.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#174

Post by foxylion »

joezydeco wrote: post #91
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.…

There are other more "western" grocery stores in Germany, like Edeka and Rewe. These are also self-pack, but there's room at the end to do it comfortably.

And they are much pricier.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#175

Post by wirrbel »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #139
wirrbel wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a german in the US, I suddenly felt as if I had a OCD about the way to bag stuff. Store employees were more or less dumping things kind of randomly in bags without sorting by weight and by robustnes of the product. On the other hand declinining help with bagging seemed to be kind of unusual. Other differences I noticed: Time at checkouts was at least 2-3 times longer than in Germany, even at the better german supe…

>Germany I never encountered cashiers to comment on the goods I bought (I don't mind much, but it still felt a bit like an intrusion in privacy. I once bought a glass of Ghee - a common ingredient in southern german cuisine - and the cashier went on and on about how unusual it was that a white guy would buy it) In the US service employees are required to be fake "friendly." This was an attempt at that. I hate it myse…

Ever thought why you shouldn't use real butter to fry meat? Its because it will turn brown and black because of proteins. You can however extract the fat from butter by melting it: clarified butter. Ghee - if it has not been fermented/flavoured - is essentially clarified butter.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#176

Post by Symbiote »

jads wrote: post #93
skrebbel wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also the shopping cards have a small chain that attaches to the cart in front of it. Wait, there are supermarkets that don't have that? How does it work? Do people just leave the shopping carts standing around on the parking lot? Not cynical, geniunely wondering how that works. Anyway, afaik virtually all supermarkets in Europe have that system. I'm pretty sure Aldi didn't invent it.

In the UK, it's not the case. Most have carts that have no such feature, though a good proportion do. From my own anecdotal experience living in less desirable areas, the use of the coin system tends to be in areas that would be more likely to have carts taken/stolen.

I think most places used to have the coin system, but it's often been replaced with a wheel lock. There's a wire loop at the perimeter of the car park, which clamps a brake on the rear wheels if the trolley is passed over the loop.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#177

Post by droopyEyelids »

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.…

I felt this exact same way through my whole childhood, but then as soon as i had to start paying for my own groceries, it was like a revelation. Now I adore the harsh fluorescent lights of value

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#178

Post by germanier »

yitchelle wrote: post #169
lorenzhs wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They accept both credit (Visa and MasterCard, by far the most common in Germany) and debit (EC)in Germany. Credit was a recent addition

Aldi accepting credit cards in Germany? The 5 or 6 Aldi stores around me (around Leverkusen) are still cash or EC card only.

Both Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd started to accept MasterCard and Visa last fall in all stores.

https://www.aldi-sued.de/de/aldi-sued-a-bis-z/aldi-sued-a-bi...

http://www.aldi-nord.de/aldi_bargeldlos_bezahlen_321.html

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#179

Post by Symbiote »

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.…

I'm not in Germany, but the same pattern repeats across Europe. I wouldn't choose the budget stores, except there's one on the ground floor of my building. I still don't like it -- it's obviously extremely convenient for me, but the goods are arranged badly, and the whole shop stinks of stale beer from the bottle return.

If I want food to do proper cooking, I walk two-three minutes to a nicer supermarket :-)

> It is like you are subject to some German Blitzkrieg or something

Given it's in Germany, a British firebombing would have been the more-likely cause...

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#180

Post by jernfrost »

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…

Hehehe I think you assume I am American. I don't really like the American experience either for many of the reasons you state. I come from Norway, so we have a all together different system. Like Germany we can't afford to have bag packers and such. However we solve the problem different from Lidl and Aldi. Usually there is a collector behind the conveyer belt, which has two different areas where it can send your stuff. Thus two shoppers can collect their items at the same time. That means you don't have to hurry to pack you stuff before it falls off the conveyor belt like Lidl.

Another common way in Norway is to simply let people scan all the goods themselves while they are shopping. Then you don't need a conveyor belt and cashier at all.

Norwegian grocery stores are also usually quite plain, but not as insanely cheap looking as Lidl and Aldi.

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