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Aldi's Barcode Strategy

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Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#51

Post by germanier »

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.

Well, they have no coupons and accept no checks. Plus, many old people that need a walking frame are actually better with moving stuff into the shopping cart then I am (not that I'm particularly slow).

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#52

Post by elipsey »

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. You unlock the cart by sliding in a quarter so you can use it while shopping.

I must admit that the first thing I did after observing this new system was to test whether the chain was long enough to "lock" the cart to itself and get the quarter back without returning the cart. Try it for yourself ;)

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#53

Post by arcticfox »

skrebbel wrote: post #47
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…

> 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 majority of US supermarkets, there are receptacles in the parking lot for carts. You just find the nearest one and push it in there and leave it after loading your car. It saves a trip back to the store. Later, a store employee will push a line of 20+ carts back all together to the store.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#54

Post by joezydeco »

donjh wrote: post #12
herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

You have to bring your own bags over here too - not sure if they sell them, I haven't been to an Aldi in a while.

They do sell bags, from cheap plastic ones to sturdier paper ones for $0.10. You can also buy reusable bags right there as well.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#55

Post by markokrajnc »

germanier wrote: post #9
jankassens wrote: post #4

They used to type in short (3 or 4 digits) codes for the products at Aldi in Germany maybe 10 years ago. I assume they did this because the scanner technology was not as fast. The cashiers memorized the codes and were crazy fast.

Aldi Süd cashiers learned the prices. They actually choose prices that were easier to type and as few different prices as possible. Barcode scanners were installed in 2000 in anticipation of the Euro introduction. Aldi Nord cashiers learned three digit codes (around 800 ones). Scanners were only introduced in 2003 because they started to sell loose produce which is weighted at the checkout. Additionally, that allowed…

And they ordered the POS software from two companies - at the same time. When the two companies finished the development, they paid both of them but choosed the better one which is now in production...

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#56

Post by atomwaffel »

return0 wrote: post #40

Off topic, but private labels are in many ways reminiscent of the state-controlled labels in former communist countries.

Interesting, is that a common connotation? I grew up with Aldi and Lidl in Germany and I've never made that association, but I suppose I can see why you might if you're used to branded products.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#57

Post by joezydeco »

sdtransier wrote: post #13
herge wrote: post #10

Do Aldis in the U.S. bag your groceries? In Ireland, you would have to bring your own bags, or buy their thick plastic ones. And then the cashier would tut-tut you if you took too long bagging your own groceries.

It's the same here in the U.S, bring your own or buy their plastic reusable ones. The locations I've been too sometimes had spare boxes you could use, but that was pretty rare.

Finding empty boxes is an artform.

Aldi has no problem with you reshuffling the stock on the shelf to create an 'empty' box out of two partially filled ones. I've gotten really good at this.

When you think about it, it also keeps the shelves a bit more organized when people are walking away with the cardboard that would normally have to be recovered and packed up by the employees.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#58

Post by res0nat0r »

skrebbel wrote: post #47
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…

> 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.

Yup. Aldi is the only place in the USA I've seen this. Everywhere else people can and do leave carts all over the parking lot even though there are return sections in the middle of the lot. Many just leave right in their parking space because they are too lazy to walk 20 feet to the nearest collection bin.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#59

Post by chiph »

skrebbel wrote: post #47
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…

> 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.

The stores in the US mostly have metal "Cart Corrals" where you return the cart. They send out someone to collect them every now and again. This keeps the carts away from the cars, so you don't get dents. But of course, there's always a few lazy people who just leave them all over the place, or (my favorite) launch them towards the corral and turn their back and walk away as the cart careens off-course.

Aldi's system certainly encourages "correct" behavior, but I'd rather not have to take the cart all the way back to get my coin. Especially in a parking lot the size of the typical Costco or Walmart. I'd just hand the cart over to the next arriving customer so I can leave quicker.

Re: Aldi's Barcode Strategy

#60

Post by tricolon »

gumby wrote: post #7

Thanks for footnoting Dallas. Aldi being German I thought of a different example: that approach is how we ended up with France, Germany and Lorraine (of the famous Alsace-Lorraine fights between F & G). It was the three sons of Charlemagne...still very visible today!

It was the three sons of the son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Verdun
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