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Aldi's Barcode Strategy

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Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#41

Post by overcast »

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.

That sounds like hell. It's already awful waiting for some old woman to rifle through coupons, and pay by check. The fact that she now has to bag all her food would make me just leave the line.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#42

Post by morley »

res0nat0r wrote: post #39
s_dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also get rid of a lot of "frills" that other grocery stores are accustomed to performing that add to cost e.g. items are still in their transport cardboard boxes on the shelves so employees spend less time stocking shelves, they allow people to take these cardboard boxes home instead of shopping bags and this reduces waste cost. They dramatically reduce their range which cuts inventory storage. You'll never seem…

Also the shopping cards have a small chain that attaches to the cart in front of it. You unlock the cart by sliding in a quarter so you can use it while shopping. Since people want their quarter back they have to return the cart to the store. Great solution to eliminate a bag boy sweeping up carts from the lot all day IMO. Also way back when ALDI didn't even have barcode scanners to save money. There was a person typ…

The ShopRite my parents used to go to when I was 10 (which would be in the mid 90s) had this, so it's not exactly a big strategic play on Aldi's part.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#43

Post by lorenzhs »

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 key is to just dump everything back into the cart and bag it later, on the table behind the cashiers. I sort my stuff by how well it can be stacked - pasta, cans, potatoes and the like go first, then milk, cheese, etc, and finally fruit, delicate vegetables, crisps, and other things you don't want crushed. You can just shove it all in the cart that way - I can match the cashier's speed.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#44

Post by ams6110 »

athenot wrote: post #33
germanier wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in the order that they should go in the bag That's one of them. Even that is something that you don't usually do outside Germany. To get to the next level I recommend to put weighted produce to the end or just after items that are not straightforward to pack.

I do that in the US even where they have an employee bagging my stuff. In fact, I do that to ensure optimal packetization—for an IP analogy. :) Otherwise I end up with 2 pieces of fruit in 1 bag, 1 bottle of soap by itself in another bag, followed by again more fruit in the 3rd bag… It's a fun fragmentation problem.

I always try that (grouping things I want bagged together) but usually the bagger just does his own thing anyway.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#45

Post by germanier »

morley wrote: post #42
res0nat0r wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the shopping cards have a small chain that attaches to the cart in front of it. You unlock the cart by sliding in a quarter so you can use it while shopping. Since people want their quarter back they have to return the cart to the store. Great solution to eliminate a bag boy sweeping up carts from the lot all day IMO. Also way back when ALDI didn't even have barcode scanners to save money. There was a person typ…

The ShopRite my parents used to go to when I was 10 (which would be in the mid 90s) had this, so it's not exactly a big strategic play on Aldi's part.

It's done in their home market Germany since the beginning of the 80s.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#46

Post by softawre »

athenot wrote: post #33
germanier wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in the order that they should go in the bag That's one of them. Even that is something that you don't usually do outside Germany. To get to the next level I recommend to put weighted produce to the end or just after items that are not straightforward to pack.

I do that in the US even where they have an employee bagging my stuff. In fact, I do that to ensure optimal packetization—for an IP analogy. :) Otherwise I end up with 2 pieces of fruit in 1 bag, 1 bottle of soap by itself in another bag, followed by again more fruit in the 3rd bag… It's a fun fragmentation problem.

Knapsack/binpacking

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#47

Post by skrebbel »

res0nat0r wrote: post #39
s_dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also get rid of a lot of "frills" that other grocery stores are accustomed to performing that add to cost e.g. items are still in their transport cardboard boxes on the shelves so employees spend less time stocking shelves, they allow people to take these cardboard boxes home instead of shopping bags and this reduces waste cost. They dramatically reduce their range which cuts inventory storage. You'll never seem…

Also the shopping cards have a small chain that attaches to the cart in front of it. You unlock the cart by sliding in a quarter so you can use it while shopping. Since people want their quarter back they have to return the cart to the store. Great solution to eliminate a bag boy sweeping up carts from the lot all day IMO. Also way back when ALDI didn't even have barcode scanners to save money. There was a person typ…

> 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.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#48

Post by kw71 »

The "Price First" house brand at Walmart has many items with huge barcodes on all surfaces. I wonder how this experiment will work out given that these ugly packages compete right next to pretty ones.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#49

Post by ams6110 »

I'm inspired to visit Aldi's again. It's been years. I remember them as being a rather depressing very low budget ambiance, dimly lit by a few flourescent tubes with an awful color spectrum, and populated by a sad bunch of customers who looked like their next option was the local community kitchen. Kind of like the typical older Kmart that's about to go out of business.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#50

Post by skrebbel »

overcast wrote: post #41
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.

That sounds like hell. It's already awful waiting for some old woman to rifle through coupons, and pay by check. The fact that she now has to bag all her food would make me just leave the line.

You'd be amazed how fast she goes with all the pressure.
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