Posted on 04/29/2025 7:41:31 AM PDT by Red Badger
If you've ever stepped foot in an Aldi supermarket, it probably didn't take you very long to realize why it's recognized as one of the most affordable grocery chains both in the United States and overseas. From fancy cheese to bakery staples to a range of healthy snacks, the retailer's shelves are stocked with plenty of high-quality grocery items at impressively wallet-friendly prices.
To keep overheads (and therefore, prices) low, Aldi employs a number of unique strategies. For one thing, you'll never hear music playing in an Aldi store, as it saves money by avoiding licensing fees. It costs a quarter to rent a shopping cart, which shoppers get back once they return it — a method that reduces the need for employees to spend time rounding them up. You might also notice that, unlike at most other grocery chains, Aldi cashiers get to sit down while ringing up customers.
The reason for that is not simply a way to make workers happy by giving them a chance to rest. Additionally, allowing cashiers to have a seat while they work helps with the overall efficiency of the business. As one Aldi cashier told Mental Floss, the company's own testing shows that sitting down at the register allows cashiers to ring up items faster. This keeps lines moving and customers satisfied while also cutting labor costs in the long run. Checkout speed and efficiency are so important to the company, in fact, that workers are given reports documenting their ringing statistics at the end of every shift.
Aldi's philosophy? Efficiency is key
As a purported Aldi employee mentioned in one Reddit thread, cashiers can be expected to ring up to 1,200 items per hour. That, in addition to being required to make the rounds unboxing items, stocking shelves, and keeping aisles tidy, can make the job quite physically demanding and strenuous. (A worker shared with Mental Floss that she probably clocked more than 25,000 steps per shift.) So, when it comes to manning the registers, the fact that it could be done off one's feet is something to be taken advantage of.
Speaking as someone who once worked as a standing supermarket cashier at another grocery chain (with all the same additional responsibilities), I can definitely see why sitting down could help employees work faster. By the end of the day, being physically spent is always just going to make the employee — and lines — move slower.
Beyond having its cashiers take a seat, Aldi makes use of other quick and efficient checkout methods. Those include large barcodes on items to make them easier to scan and encouraging customers to pre-insert their credit cards so that they're ready to pay by the time items are completely rung up. Perhaps most notably, shoppers bag their own items. While Aldi employees will help load up your cart with your processed groceries, customers do their own bagging in a separate area to keep things moving along. And considering the savings they're getting by doing so, fans of the brand certainly aren't complaining.
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Love ALDI—prices are a lot lower than traditional grocery stores.
I don’t buy this. Where they are from in Europe, it is a legal requirement that cashiers at grocery stores have chairs. I think this is spin for the US division to make it look like it is about cost and efficiency. In reality, it is about simply being consistent with their European core.
Exactly! Last summer I went to Germany and that was one of the things that I noticed. The cashiers in the German supermarkets all were seated.
Probably saves on Workman’s Comp claims too. Standing on your feet all day in one position is a huge ankle and foot injury situation. In some environments OSHA requires thick rubber mats to reduce this safety hazard.
Tried shopping at Aldi’s a few times. Don’t hate it. But found selection limited and too many unfamiliar brands.
I prefer Publix and Fresh Market.
Speaking of sitting down on the job.
Have you ever wondered why GM Pickup Trucks antenna is placed over the driver and not back center like all other vehicles?
As I understand, the antenna placement job for some reason is always done by someone who has to be seated for some damn reason. That particular spot is the only place a seated person can reach.
I see no reason why cashiers stand in virtually every other store.
I have one close by...and save a lot of money...Their meats are excellent.
Aldi’s promotes their ‘house brands’.
What they do is stock one national brand next to their house brand and the customer will decide based on price which is usually substantially lower.
Check the labels, they always say ‘Sold exclusively by Aldis’ or some variant.
And most likely are made in the same plants and factories that make the national brands.
You can’t beat their prices on cheeses and other dairy products.
Their low fat Greek yogurt is delicious and the cheese selections are quite comparable to Publix.................
The thick rubber mats definitely help make standing for long periods of time in one place more physically “do-able”.
That is, they’re not just whistling Dixie with that suggestion.
ALDI shopper here.
I’m able to do 90% of my grocery shopping at ALDI.
ALDI is my go-to grocery store.
While they do not have vast selections of groceries, they have all of the essentials.
When I need something special I go to the bigger grocery stores and pay inflated prices for a special item.
Regarding the fresh goods items, the fact that ALDI limits what they stock, those items move from the shelves much faster and thus are much fresher.
No..........................
I like ALDI. Yes, fewer brand selections, but it is noticably cheaper than any compitition. Get your staples at ALDI, and your indulgences elsewhere.
HEB!
It saves $40 on the cost of a chair? Whoopie! That cost is recouped in about a day and a half based on efficiency + savings on body wear and tear alone. I am genuinely surprised more places don't copy it.
I also notice my local Aldi's starts cashiers at about $1.50 more per hour than their competitors. They can be more choosey in whom they hire from that fact alone.
Last week I bought a HUGE steak from them that would have cost at least five bucks more at the big regional chain I used to get a lot of my groceries from. That steak was a hearty meal for me with a few good-size morsels to spare for my dog :-)
There’s an Aldi’s north of me, and one south, neither too far away, but I prefer one-stop shopping and they don’t have much.
It was more fun when I was little, you had to rent the cart for a quarter, and it was a good long ride for a quarter. I soon graduated to ponies.
I am guessing it helps cashiers prefer to sit at the register rather than do other things. So people can check out faster
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