Thursday 31 July 2008

A Shopping Trip to ALDI




To ALDI, and a look at what all the excitement is about. Latest figures from research company Taylor Nelson Sofres say that discount stores in general and ALDI in particular are growing sales at a great rate as cash strapped shoppers flock to take advantage of their low prices.

German owned ALDI is the biggest of the discounters with a market share of 2.9%, which compares with 31% for Tesco, 17% for ASDA, 16% for Sainsbury, and 11% for Morrisons. Whilst relatively small their sales have grown by 19.5% in the 12 weeks to July 13th, compared with a total grocery market growth of 7.3%. ALDI says its success is due to always selling at very low prices, something they are able to do, according to their UK head of buying Tony Baines, because "we have a low cost base, and take lower profit margins" (than the major multiples).

So what is it like shopping there?

Immediately you can see why their cost base is low. Trolleys are chained, and have to be purchased, with money refunded when they are returned. So no extra staff are required to collect them up. The aisles are narrow, all the better to pack more in to a limited space, saving on building and maintainance costs Products are left in their outer boxes on shelves, not taken out of the box and displayed individually, so again fewer staff are needed. There are far fewer checkouts, so far fewer staff are required to man them. Yet you don't queue for long. They whip you through very fast. First, because you are not allowed to hold things up by packing at the checkout, instead, you unload your products on to the belt, they are scanned, and you put them straight back into the trolley. Second because the belts are about twice as long as conventional belts, so there's no waiting to unload the trolley. And finally, although I have no evidence for this, the staff could be paid on the speed of scanning the goods, which went through the checkout like lightening.

What about the products?

ALDI stocks just 11 well known brands. The rest of their goods have got brand names, but ones few will have heard of. So ALDI is not paying typical national brand prices for their packaged products. Most of the fresh produce is sold under a little known name, the meat and chicken for example is called "Ashfield" . In just a few instances, ALDI puts its own name on fresh produce, something they want to do more of apparently to create a better quality image.

The range of goods on offer is very limited, which means less cash tied up in stock. But the basics are there.

What about price and quality?

Prices varied. 500kg of British beef mince was £2.29p compared with £2.25p at Tesco and £2.20p at ASDA. But sirloin steak, also British, was £14.68p per kilo compared with £15.47p at the big chains, strawberries were £1.69p compared with £1.99p, and new potatoes, on special offer, were 69p per kilo compared with £1.38p.

Taste wise, the strawberries, mince, steak, and tomatoes were as good as any other supermarket's, the potatoes better than a recent Sainsbury purchase.

Will ALDI become the new face of grocery shopping? It certainly offers good value on some products, which, for those on a very strict budget, could be most welcome. However, the limited range, lack of brands to which many are very loyal, and the feeling that, whether grappling with the chained trolleys to being hustled through the checkout, it is an even bleaker shopping experience than at other supermarkets, makes me think that many will shop there once but not go back. Added to this the big supermarkets have started major price wars which will make them more competitive with ALDI and its fellow discounters, at least some of the time. Discount shopping won't go away, but its probably not going to dramatically change the UK shopping world.

13 comments:

db said...

I tried "Lidl" in Ashford for the first time recently. It seems to be more Aldi than Aldi, if you see what I mean. Prices are about 30-50% below Tesco's, although they claim that Fruit & Veg are up to 70% cheaper. The quality is OK. I didn't recognise many of the brands, and even the few staff seem to be from Poland or somewhere! It takes only debit cards and charges heavily for bags, 3p for a small one, and 9p for a bigger one! Good to have in the inventory of places to shop as those gas and electricity bills keep going up!

Colette Burke said...

Hi dabrennen,
Thank you for adding more detail about what to expect from discount shopping.
Colette

Anonymous said...

well ive shopped in tesco sainsburys m&s and last but not least of all waitrose
i started shopping in aldi's 4 weeks ago every week and now im getting used to the non branded makes i find most food of top quality the veg are second to none as aldi's display there veg along the isle might i add not in a chiller as the other stores do yes the veg dont last for weeks but its real tasty
have you ever brought veg and fruit from the other supermarkets and found they have rotted by the time you have got home or myseriously the apples you bought look good on the outside but inside have have turned a weird speckle brown and turns to rotting tasting mush when you go to eat it and thats not the first time many a time i have chucked away fruit and veg i had just bought
it looked ok at the supermarket but it changed by the time i got home
it has taken me a little while to see what is best and what is not
the meat is of very good quality and on most packaging it will say that all meat is traceable the icecream mr frosty is of very high quality its got a light smooth taste like mr softy icecream van taste
the light mayo is made with rapeseed oil this oil is being hailed as good as olive oil and the fish even though frozen is also good fresh pizza's and lasgne are tops
washing powders etc i find a bit expensive for non branded
i will add its hard to do a whole shop in aldi's but i would like to say since doing the shop i have been saving about £50 a week and enjoyed what i have bought now its shop at tesco's or other once a month to catch up on washing powders etc and aldis every week and its getting easier as i now know where things are and i like to try an item i havent tried every week to see if its up to scratch or not and cross it of my monthly list if its better in quality and or price
its quite daunting at first when you go into an aldi's store but after a couple of visits you can see there worth also my aldi's is always packed so thats got to say somethng

Colette Burke said...

Thanks for taking the time to give such helpful information about the ins and outs of shopping at ALDI, particularly what the products are like.I see that its sales continue to grow which echoes your point about the store always being full. Colette.

Bong said...

Colette. I know it's an old post but I've been intrigued by Aldi for years. It always seemed so "unfriendly" if you know what I mean. Anyway, the long and short of it is, I'm now partially converted, having shopped and leading supermarkets forever, Aldi is now top of my list. Yes, you don't get the selection but to be honest do you really need all those different grades of mince beef etc.. Anyway, I've got 3 kids and 4 at the weekend and my partner regularly eats me out of house and home. Shopping at Aldi has slashed my food bills from about £100 to £65 or £70. Some of the stuff is better than leading supermarkets whereas other stuff is dire but you only find out by trying. I must admit I agree with you on the checkout operators, and I reckon they get bonuses the faster they scan stuff through. Quite entertaining!! Alison

Colette Burke said...

Thank you for commenting Alison.Those savings are substantial, and show the benefit of taking time to work out what is and is not worth buying at Aldi. It seems that two stop shopping is starting to replace the one stop as people search for the best bargains.
Colette

Carl said...

I'm a cash-strapped regular at Aldi, but it's not the prices that attract me so much as the whole shopping experience. I load stuff into my carrier bag, unload it onto the conveyor and then load it straight back into my carrier bag while exchanging brief pleasantries with the very friendly staff, I'm free to slowly browse the often interesting and constantly changing special stock, such as tools or camping gear, car and gardening equipment and accessories, which is often very good value for money as are, it must be said, the seasonal special five fruit and veg which also change weekly. I never feel hassled in Aldi or under pressure to shop up and get out. I've got no complaints at all.

Colette Burke said...

Thank you for your comment Carl. It shows that ALDI is attracting shoppers for a wide variety of reasons. It is no wonder that their sales continue to boom.
Colette

Anonymous said...

I used to be an out and out Morison’s shopper.
So when I moved to South Wales I was very pleased to see the was Morrison’s store on the outskirts of town.
For weeks I had been going to Morrison’s and driving past Aldi, so I thought that I will give it a try and set my limit, thinking I could always go back to Morrison’s if Aldi was too expensive.
After about 30 minutes I came out and was pleasantly surprised just how little I had spent but still purchased my normal about of shopping and the bonus was I did not drive as far.
So after several months shopping and all the news about the discounters, I decided to test Lidl who located on the same retail park.
By this time I virtually knew what I paid in Aldi, some were cheaper but on the whole pound for pound Aldi came out way above Lidl, plus I did have to drive as far.
I still get my fuel at Morrison’s.
I am now a regular shopper at Aldi and the majority of the staff know me by name.
I am now waiting for Aldi to open filling stations to complete the circle.

The man who could....! said...

We have mainly shopped at Tesco, as there is one in our town, although with some reservations about supporting a market leader. Within the last year my wife started shopping at an Aldi store in the next town, Spalding in South Lincs. Having taken the micky out of her for weeks about it I have to now concede that the product are equally as good as anything we were buying in Tesco and sometimes better! It is a varied shopping experience as they often have, what an average British shopper would consider to be, off the wall products for a supermarket, which makes the mundane almost exciting. We still do go to Tesco, for convenience, but most of our shopping now comes from Aldi.

Baz le Greque said...

Hi Collete. I was curious to find out if there is such a place as "Ashfield Farm!I did a Google search and came up with various locations but none near the place where the meat was slaughtered (meat code UK4109). I traced this code and corresponds to ABP (Shrewsbury) Ltd a branch of the ABP Food Group with H/Q based in Ireland!
Well,.. is the name ASHFIELD FARM and Associated "Red Cow" Trademark the invention of Aldi or does such a farm actually exist? The red cow trademark says on it "fully traceable" but despite having spent about 2 hours on my PC doing various searches, I cannot find its origin. Indeed, it could be horse meat from Ireland! Can you throw some light into this? The meat was "Diced Beef" bought from Aldi and tasted very good but so presumably were the products containing the sick horse's meat from Ireland in the Supermarket scam discovered about a year ago! This fake branding does not do much for consumer confidence and I cannot see the point of it! Baz

Colette Burke said...

Yes, Aldi attracts many favourable comments about the quality of its food, and, added to cheaper prices means that they are attracting many shoppers.
I think it is excellent - keeps the big supermarkets on their toes as they try to win back the shoppers they have lost to the likes of Aldi and also Lidl.

Colette Burke said...

Hi to you Baz. To answer your question, Ashfield Farm is a brand name which Aldi uses, rather than the place where the animal was born and raised, and it is on chicken as well as beef. The meat will come from a number of different farms. I agree that labelling in this country is a misleading mess, however a careful eye on wording can help. Aldi claims 100% British farmed, and they would risk their reputation if it came from anywhere else. "Made with British beef" is also a reliable guide to origin. The Red Tractor logo with the Union flag on it means that the product came from a UK farm, although the Tractor without the flag means that it could have come from anywhere, but in theory was produced to the same standards as we have in the UK.
Unfortunately labelling alone may not have prevented the horsemeat scandal, but it gave retailers a scare and they toughened their traceability standards. They will not want to to risk such a damaging incident again.
Hope this helps, and thank you for getting in touch. Colette.