(Photo from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)
Grocery Store Research – That Busy Girl Attempts to Unlock the
Mystery that is ALDI.
Last summer, my husband
and I were fortunate enough to take a two week trip to Ireland. We certainly
did our fair share of eating out but in order to stretch the budget, we also purchased
some food at grocery stores. It was during our first grocery store experience
in Dublin that I discovered something that surprised me – the grocery store was set up just like my local ALDI. In
fact, all of the grocery stores we
visited while touring Ireland were set up like my local ALDI. I doubted it was
a coincidence, so when we got back to the states, I decided to dig a little
deeper.
In the Metro Detroit area
(where my husband and I live) ALDI is a relatively new grocery store (I’ve only
been aware of them for about a decade) but the company itself, which originated
in Germany, has actually been around since the 1960s. ALDI, whose “brother”
company is Trader Joe’s (gasp!) is
known for their inexpensive groceries along with their simple store layout and
do-it-yourself bagging system. Before looking closer at ALDI, I was of the
opinion that ALDI’s prices were cheaper because their products were lesser
quality than my “normal” grocery store. What I discovered during my research
both surprised and impressed me.
(Photo from www.progressivegrocer.com)
ALDI’s Products are Cheaper because ALDI is Brilliant.
Plain and Simple.
When you shop at a typical
grocery store in America you grab a cart as you walk in, are greeted by
visually stimulating displays, pluck your food selections from tidy shelves,
chat with the cashier as another employee bags your groceries for you, leave
your cart somewhere in the parking lot (are you the jerk who left their cart
right in the middle of the best space
available?!) and come home to add all those plastic bags to an ever-growing
collection that you can’t possibly hope to use up in your lifetime. (But maybe
the grandkids will need those bags in the future?)
I feel like I’ve painted a
pretty accurate picture of the American grocery store experience. And I’ve said
American twice now because this
experience is, actually, pretty much limited to just the U.S. In Europe, where food
is more expensive, grocery stores have had to get creative to find ways to cut
prices – and they use some very subtle yet highly effective practices to make
sure customers get the biggest bang for their buck – I mean, euro.
(Photo from http://article.wn.com/)
How ALDI is Able to Slash Prices yet Keep Quality.
As I stated, ALDI was born
in Germany and when it came to America, it held on pretty tightly to its
European heritage. Grocery prices at ALDI are lower because:
You pay a deposit for your cart.
That quarter you have to slip into the cart to unhook it from the rest may seem annoying (especially when you get all the way there and realize you don’t have any change on you!) but think about what it causes you to do: no thrifty person is just going to throw away $0.25 so you put your cart back in order to retrieve that quarter. American grocery stores have to hire cart-collectors to gather up all the shopping carts we just leave in the lot – and their wage is added to the price of your groceries.
You pay a deposit for your cart.
That quarter you have to slip into the cart to unhook it from the rest may seem annoying (especially when you get all the way there and realize you don’t have any change on you!) but think about what it causes you to do: no thrifty person is just going to throw away $0.25 so you put your cart back in order to retrieve that quarter. American grocery stores have to hire cart-collectors to gather up all the shopping carts we just leave in the lot – and their wage is added to the price of your groceries.
(Photo from http://www.cdinduluth.com/)
Products are placed on shelves in the boxes they were
shipped in.
Similar to a warehouse-style store (like Costco or Sam’s Club) you will find products on the shelves at ALDI still inside the original manufacturer shipping-boxes. The store receives the shipment and then just brings the whole pallet out to the floor. Boxes are, of course, opened for you to easily access and pull goods out of, but other than that, there’s not much else as far as presentation. In an American grocery store, we are used to seeing rows and rows of boxes and cans all perfectly aligned with labels facing out. It’s much more aesthetically pleasing, but that store has to hire stock-people to walk around all day and fix the messes we grocery shoppers make – and their wage is added to the price of your groceries.
Similar to a warehouse-style store (like Costco or Sam’s Club) you will find products on the shelves at ALDI still inside the original manufacturer shipping-boxes. The store receives the shipment and then just brings the whole pallet out to the floor. Boxes are, of course, opened for you to easily access and pull goods out of, but other than that, there’s not much else as far as presentation. In an American grocery store, we are used to seeing rows and rows of boxes and cans all perfectly aligned with labels facing out. It’s much more aesthetically pleasing, but that store has to hire stock-people to walk around all day and fix the messes we grocery shoppers make – and their wage is added to the price of your groceries.
(Photo from aldifoodie.wordpress.com)
You bag your own groceries and buy your own bags.
Sure, you can still chat with the cashier (they tend
to be more pleasant than at other places because they get to sit down while ringing you up) but YOU
are bagging your own groceries. You ALSO are using your own bags or buying some
while you’re there. While at first this process seems undesirable, the real
beauty of it is a couple of things: 1)Less
waste is created. If you’re a regular ALDI shopper, you’re not going to buy
their bags every time. The bags are very inexpensive (like a dime apiece) but
still, you’re going to invest in reusable bags and begin saving all those brown
paper bags with handles the “nice” stores give out (like Trader Joe’s!) And think
about all the landfill space used up by the millions of plastic bags
manufactured each year just so we can transport groceries for probably less
than 15 minutes. It’s actually pretty shameful. 2)YOU get to pack your own bag = no more smashed groceries. God bless the teenagers getting out
there and into the workforce, but seriously kiddo, stop putting my bread
underneath the canned peas. 3)American grocery stores do make it
more convenient for customers by providing bags and bagging groceries for us,
but that store has to hire bag-people AND purchase those bags – and their wage
PLUS the cost of those bags is added to the price of your groceries.
(Photo from gobankingrates.com)
ALDI only accepts cash or DEBIT – not credit.
At first, I was a little put out that ALDI does not accept credit cards. My husband and I don’t purchase groceries using our credit card but ALDI sells all kinds of other stuff too, like lawn furniture, cookware, toys, etc. This is a really good store to pick up items on your Christmas shopping list (especially toys!) and sometimes, Christmas purchases do go on the credit card. Since this feature can be somewhat limiting, I asked an ALDI employee, “What’s the deal with no credit cards?” and was sufficiently satisfied with her response; ALDI doesn’t accept credit cards because credit card companies charge fees for stores to use their services. Stores that do accept credit cards are certainly more convenient but they are being charged this fee as well – and the cost of this fee is added to the price of your groceries.
At first, I was a little put out that ALDI does not accept credit cards. My husband and I don’t purchase groceries using our credit card but ALDI sells all kinds of other stuff too, like lawn furniture, cookware, toys, etc. This is a really good store to pick up items on your Christmas shopping list (especially toys!) and sometimes, Christmas purchases do go on the credit card. Since this feature can be somewhat limiting, I asked an ALDI employee, “What’s the deal with no credit cards?” and was sufficiently satisfied with her response; ALDI doesn’t accept credit cards because credit card companies charge fees for stores to use their services. Stores that do accept credit cards are certainly more convenient but they are being charged this fee as well – and the cost of this fee is added to the price of your groceries.
(Photo from http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/)
The Bottom Line: ALDI is Better for Your Bottom Line!
As Americans, we love our
conveniences, but we must accept that convenience is NOT always best for us.
Every day we are inundated with news reports of rising obesity rates, increased
cases of cancer and a national budget that’s so far in the red it’s
frightening. And how did we get into such poor shape? Through the convenience
of fast food, chemically preserved foods and the ease of just putting the tab
on, well, our tab. So if you have an ALDI anywhere near you, I encourage you to
just check it out. Purchase a few products there that you would normally buy
elsewhere, try them at home and see if they are not the absolute same quality
or better. If you try ALDI and you don’t
like it, ALDI will actually let you return it - even if the product is fine but you just plain don't like the taste, they will take it back! So in this experiment you have nothing to lose.
So just remember: stores sell products to consumers to make a profit. If you encounter any store that just “gives” you something, whether it’s in the form of a simple plastic bag or the service of picking up after you, be wise enough to know that these stores certainly are not just eating the cost of what’s been given – they’re passing that expense off to their customers… and that includes you.
So just remember: stores sell products to consumers to make a profit. If you encounter any store that just “gives” you something, whether it’s in the form of a simple plastic bag or the service of picking up after you, be wise enough to know that these stores certainly are not just eating the cost of what’s been given – they’re passing that expense off to their customers… and that includes you.
Looking for more material
on ALDI? Here’s a review by Slate
Magazine http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/02/aldi_grocery_store_best_in_america_related_to_trader_joe_s.html
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and are not influenced, or necessarily shared, by ALDI, Inc.
What's YOUR favorite grocery store?
I would love to hear about it!
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Blair Clark is a wife, teacher, dog-mother, mentor, wanna-be-chef, recipe collector, crafter, painter, novice photographer, thrifter, writer, marriage ministry leader, Sunday school teacher and blogger. In short, she's a busy girl! Blair lives and blogs from the suburbs of Detroit with her handsome hubby and perfect Chocolate lab.
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