Yahoo Finance Aldi’s tiny check-outs revealed as a sneaky way they cut costs
Scientists have long thought that light - which moves at a speed of 300,000 kilometres a second - is the fastest thing in the world.
But those scientists obviously don’t shop at Aldi.
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It may defy science, logic and reality, but the check-out staff at Aldi move so fast shoppers barely have the time to squeak out a “Yes, I’m fine thanks” before they’re offering their credit card and shuffling over to the back of the store to pack their reusable bags.
Now, a new documentary explains just why that checkout experience is so speedy (read: stressful).
The Inside Aldi: Britain’s Biggest Budget Supermarket documentary went behind the scenes to find out how the supermarket makes its money while offering discount products to its shoppers.
And it unveiled some business truths.
As The Sun reports, the small checkouts and till area mean shoppers can’t pack their bags immediately and are required to move to another part of the story to properly pack their groceries, letting check-out agents move onto the next customer more quickly.
If you’ve wondered at staff members’ almost preternatural ability to scan items so quickly, the answer also reflects common sense: the groceries have several barcodes all over the product, meaning staff don’t need to flip and search products to scan them through.
The boosted efficiency means Aldi can keep prices lower for shoppers.
The program also refers to Aldi’s Special Buys sales as the store’s “treasure aisle”, as shoppers head in store to pick up their groceries but end up making unexpected purchases - like a pizza oven, or exercise machine - at a discounted price.
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