Many people are taking advantage of the great prices found at Aldi supermarkets.
Its estimated that consumers will save 40-50% at an Aldi grocery store compared to conventional supermarkets, and save 16-24% over large discount stores.
With these types of savings its no wonder that Aldi parking lots are filling up.
Yet the no frills shopping experience at Aldi’s is a little different than that encountered at other supermarkets. As a result, its easy to spot an Aldi newbie – someone making their first shopping trip at an Aldi grocery store.
Here are some quick tips on how not to look like a newbie when you stop by your local Aldi supermarket.
Bring a Quarter. When you go to use a shopping cart the first thing you’ll notice is that the carts are chained together. To release a cart slide a quarter into a small slot on top of the cart.
When you return the cart you get your quarter back. No quarter, no shopping cart. This apparently saves on labor costs as employees are not needed to chase down stray carts left in the parking lot.
Prepare for the Spartan Interior. You won’t find the bakery smells or large produce sections right as you walk through the door. In fact, the interiors of most Aldi stores are rather spartan – just food items lined on the shelves often in the same boxes they were shipped in. In many ways, the stores look more like small warehouses than supermarkets.
Expect a Quicker Shopping Trip. Don’t be shocked by the size of the stores. Compared to super-sized grocery stores, the size of a typical Aldi store is quite lilliputian. Yet the small size and open layout make the stores extremely easy to navigate so you’re in and out of the store quickly.
Don’t Think About Product Size. No you won’t have to chose between the small size, medium size, large size, or bulk size boxes of cereal. That’s because all of the products in the store are offered in only one size.
Remember the Guarantee. When you walk into an Aldi’s you might be surprised at how many store brands you’ll encounter – Happy Harvest pork and beans, Sweet Harvest fruit salad, Salad Mate salad dressing, and Berry Hill jelly just to name a few.
Aldi tests its store brand products on a regular basis to make sure that each product meets or exceeds the quality and taste of the national brand alternatives.
Better yet, they provide a double guarantee. If for any reason, you are not 100% satisfied with any product you purchase, they will replace the product AND refund your money.
Don’t Pull Out a Credit Card. Nothing will reveal that you’re a newbie faster than pulling out your credit card to pay for your groceries. You see the store doesn’t accept credit cards. Only cash and debit cards are accepted. This allows the store to avoid expensive merchant credit card fees.
Bring Your Own Bags. You won’t get free bags at this store. You can buy plastic or paper bags for a few cents. The better option is to purchase a few Aldi high-quality, re-usable cloth bags. These are extremely sturdy and can handle very heavy loads. At $2.99 a bag they are relatively cheap as well.
Pack Your Own Groceries. When you get to the check-out aisle you place your items on the counter. After the cashier scans the prices the items are placed back into your cart. From there you take them a short distance to another counter where you bag your own groceries.
Your shopping experience at Aldi’s will be slightly different. Yet the great prices and the money you save will be well worth it – and best of all, you won’t have to look like a newbie doing it.
Loading ...
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This blog has a lot of interesting tidbits. Thanks for putting this information out there. I was able to save money using those helpful hints.
How about explaining what the f- an “aldi supermarket” is?
Ken,
Aldi supermarket chains are no frills grocery stores that are becoming more popular here in the US. You can get a lot of groceries for a super cheap price.
It looks like the Aldi stores are situated east of the Mississippi River (anyone know of an Aldi out west??). The company has been making inroads the last few years opening new stores even with the economy in the tank. In the Philadelphia area, there were 2 new stores that opened recently. The quarter for a shopping cart is not a new concept to me. There used to be a chain of stores in the northeast called Pathmark, and they used the same concept, quarter for the cart, or you could buy a reusable token for 25 cents from the customer service desk, to reuse over and over again. The store brands may not be what people are used to seeing, but again some taste testing will show you if you like the brands or not. And if you don’t you can get your money back, no questions asked.
Hi ive been a customer for a while, most often all is good. I had gotten cash back the other day and my fault but i didnt count it. Once i got to my next stop to use the cash, i found out i was given $20 less than i had asked for. Only then did I find out that there is no way to contact the store(no phone) other than going there. I did that the following day, the manager was very polite, but let me know that each checkout person has there own drawer and the one who had taken care of me wasnt on for a few days, once she came on again they would check her drawer and notify me either way. I was never notified so I made another extra trip to the store and left another manager the information again. Now 4 days had passed since the mishap. Four days that all partys knew of my concern. I got a call after that, the manager stated the drawer counted perfect. Nothing more they could do. I do not believe anything originally was done planed, but four days without checking on this, much can happen. I felt you should know and perhaps have a different way to handle these mishaps in the future. Thanks Joe Burns