Hi,
I'm 30+ yo male, live in Sydney, work in Aldi Supermarket for about 3 years.
Probably any of you would like to know anything about Aldi' stuffs or general supermarket/Aldi related things.
Thanks
[AMA] I Work in ALDI, You Can Ask Me Anything
LKobee on 01/03/2018 - 17:37
closed Comments
Hahah..less than 50% lol
There have been some sweet ladies working at my local Aldi - which makes the shopping experience even more enjoyable making me come back for more. Very easy on the eye, good natured and a little bit flirty.
Nice
Why do you guys only use 2 out of the 8 or so check out lanes? Or even; why are there so many check out lanes when you only ever use 2 of them?
We serve as needed. If the queue on the register over the belt then other register will be opened. Staffs have floor jobs to do when they aren't needed on the register. It is how Aldi works and how staffs are managed on daily basis.
We don't put all staffs on each register all time whilst just wait for 1-2 customer to come (so staffs just wait there sitting? no..)Have u EVER filled all registers with staff?
I’ve never seen it, so curious when
Yes, mostly during weekend, all 6 registers are open
What benefits do you get working at aldi? Staff Discount?
No staff discount sir :)
We get fair amount of pay (rates are adjusted to certain hours/days etc)
Provided complete uniforms + tools (Coles don't provide trousers + shoes i believe)
Work with handy equipment (automatic jack, Coles mostly handles with manual)
First hands on good deals maybe?
Haha..i'm not a checkout bitch. I always seek opportunities though, may it be internal or external :)
Gotta love the disrespect working in retail gets you ;) and if I'm not mistaken Aldi SMs cans and do earn quite a lot more than $80k.
Are the Trader Joe/Aldi Fit & Active® Turkey Meatballs ever going to be available in Australia?
I'm not sure about this, sorry.
What's a good quality Aldi product that you think gets overlooked as far as price/quality go? Do staff get a pick of the specials before doors open to the public? Favourite 'special' item you've bought (if any)?
So many actually, from the biscuits, chocolate, yogurts, cheeses, desserts then to ice cream, frozen pizza, brioche breads, nuts. Have you tried any of those? I shop in all supermarkets so I can actually compare those things.
Yes we can get one but we aren't really that enthusiast about it (i've answered this question before).
I've bought soooo many special items in Aldi actually, my favourites so far: bluetooth speaker, bluetooth headphones, pan fryer, water bottle, storage boxes, kitchen gadgets, weight scale, thermal suits
Are you allowed to ask customers out on a date?
Haha..yea probably after work hours
What’s the single hardest thing that is expected of you to be able to do? How often would you likely have to do it?
What’s the heaviest item you are expected to lift?
That's some questions!
I can't really think of the hardest one yet so far :) All hard jobs eventually get easier once we know how to do it and get used to it. So the more often we do the hard jobs the easier they are to be done.Heaviest item probably like boxes of frozen stuffs, there are ways to do it. If we think it is too heavy of course we need more people to lift together ( or by the help of automatic jack pallet).
Will you work at Aldi until you go into retirement? Do you work full time?
I think I won't as I have other dreams. But let's see what the future brings.
Yes full time.
Feature request.
Hybrid self serve with traditional checkout by using a dual laser scanning system?
i.e so both cashier and customer scan items to speed things up while facing each other on separate scanners.
Would reduce the theft component and speed things along.Might need to talk to higher upper level of Aldi
Do you get a headache hearing the scanning beep ?
I think & felt that Aldi scanning is faster than Coles or Woolies, sometimes when I buy more items I cannot keep up I have to dump my groceries into the trolley.
Sometimes it is a bit stressful that the cashier is so efficient.That's because the Coles assistants pack your products into bags? Aldi registers are literally designed for speed without packing.
True. Thanks
Some staffs may forgot to turn down volume of the scanner too..lol
The new store layout has fruit and veg first. I don't want bananas at the bottom of my trolley so have to go to the other aisle first. Do you get much feedback about this? Do you know why they made this part of the layout?
Also, I love ALDI but your bananas go brown in a matter of days. Are they in the supply chain longer than other stores or something?
Lol, are you serious? You can't just walk past it on entrance and come back to get your fruit last?
Yes..I hope this is not much a big of problem
Yes, that is what I do but my question relates to why they chose to move to this layout. Previous layout you did all the tins and jars first and the fruit, veg etc last. They've also put all the meat first now and it makes sense to get that later considering it is refrigerated. Freezer stuff is still where is was which makes sense.
Completely agree! Previous layout was so logical, now it is all over the place, fruit was toward the end so you didn't squash it with boxed and tinned goods, meat and milk last as it is refrigerated. Always seem to have trouble finding basic things now, last week I asked a manager for help and even she was confused.
@17833: They space everything in so many different locations so that you cover more area of the supermarket and is more inclined to make additional purchases you didnt intend to buy or need.
@D6C1: I was under the impression ALDI didn't do this. Previously it was tinned food, the cereals etc , then fruit, veg and meat, fridge stuff and then frozen stuff. Very logical. Now it's all over the place.
Back when I was at Coles they built a multi million dollar ripening facility to land the bananas at stores at the 'perfect' ripeness. My guess would be Aldi doesn't have something up and running like that.
Banana display actually is a very good attraction to customers. You know banana actually near the register right?? So you can pick it last after go around isles with full trolley.
We sometimes get bananas that are already ripe, the brown ones should be removed from the display and replace with the good ones. Nah, never had feedback about brown bananas, I believe my Aldi is VERY concern about our banana display.
What do you think of the credit card surcharge?
It kills me that I can't just pay wave my shopping (under $100)…Tap and Go…
It wastes so much time for me to type in my pin via EFTPOS and the cashier had to wait at least 90 seconds… Surely it would save more on wages to allow tap and go for free.
Yes, some customers complain. But would you rather go to more expensive supermarkets without any card charge fee instead?
it's 0,5 % chargeHey, I should have perhaps phrased the question a bit better:
I find Aldi extremely efficient with 99% of their operations.
I think the cost of wasted labor (assistants waiting 60 to 90 seconds per EFTPOS transaction) in waiting at times exceeds the 0.5% that Aldi gain from having the surcharge…
What is most efficient in terms of time for you in each transaction in terms of payment? I assume paywave, cash and then EFTPOS payments in order of time? Or put simply - Would everyone using paywave make your job alot easier?
Of course Paypass is the fastest one, then after that is Cash then Eftpost..you got it.
Yes, if everyone use paywave/pass it makes the job so much easier (and if customers quickly push the products to trolley lol).Thank u so much
How do you figure 90s of wasted time? I pay via touch and go and am just as quick as any other customer.
60 to 90 seconds for EFTPOS (Swipe card + pin)… pretty self explanatory…
Tap and Go takes 10 seconds…which is what I am arguing - that Aldi could save 50 to 60 seconds per transaction by encouraging tap and go…it currently is pushing people away from this by charging a surcharge
When do you guys markdown expiring products?What's the discount?
4-5 days to expiring date for chiller products i believe is 30%
1 day is 40%
We try to do regular check every day afternoon.
No discount for bread anymoreIt depends on the product and the store. Milk, for example, should have a life of at lease 6 days. i.e. The useby date should be 6 (or maybe 7) days ahead of purchase date. Anything less is usually discounted progressively (10%-50%) but it's pretty rare for milk. Another example is meat which should be discounted the day before the "display until" date.
The extent of the discount is at the discretion of the store manager with maximum discounts of 50%. Discounts on any product is a loss for that particular store and gets factored into inventory losses etc which can affect store sales and in turn, store manager bonuses. Knowing that, you can see why managers try to keep discounts relatively low.
Why did Aldi get rid of the curly fries!
Not sure why, when it first came i think it just testing the market. So many different kinds already for the fries now.
Lol
Surely that signage wasn't a coincidence!
What life decisions led you to be working in a supermarket at 30 years of age? Are you currently undergoing education?
Sorry this forum is not about my personal life.
At least he replied to your question. Totally ignored mine
Smug loaded question.
Do store managers regularly check local nearby colesworth and try to beat them on price for certain goods every week? Sometimes my local seems to have managers special similar to the nearby supermarket.
Nah, never. Price comes from the main office, regularly.
I do see some coles staff inside Aldi sometimes. Well, that's in my Aldi.
Why don't some ALDI stores have shopping baskets?
I guess they try to just divide between small shoppers (so you can carry the items) or big shoppers (put all in trolley). In some case, Aldi with baskets always runs out of them, after they re-stock the new baskets (customers tend to steal them outside lol), so we're kind of fed up with it.
Try use our bags to shop, later if you don't wanna purchase the bags, that's okay (or empty boxes on the shelves).
I believe Aldi encourages people to use the trolley (you just need coin, you'll get the coin back once trolley's returned)
Whats with Aldi recently jacking up thier soft drink prices from 69c to 85c???
Thats a 23% increase in a 2% inflation economy…please explain.
This has had a knock on effect of both Coles and Woolworths also putting their house brand softdrink prices up from 75c to 90c.
Not impressed at allIn NSW or another state? Didn't they just introduce the 10c container deposit scheme?
Agreed. They know what 69c + 10c equals.
This matters are happening in all supermarket, for the bottled water. If you look closer into small label on the shelves around water bottled it has explanation about it, where Government actually increase the cost of something related to water (i forgot the detail).
No, it's not because Aldi increased it then later other supermarkets follow. All increase it around same time.
Thank you. But still that only makes 79c.
Aldi is profiting from this by adding another 6c or around 10%.
So is Woolworths.
Consumer gets screwed again!It’s not only 10c a bottle. It’s 10c a bottle and roughly 4 cents in fees that are paying for the recycling plant and scheme per bottle. In general all bottles have gone up 15c.
Is is true you cant be an area manager unless you're German? How far can you go in Aldi before the German ceiling kicks in?
Do you call turduckens "turds" for short?
After the Aldi brothers fell out over the sale of cigarettes, the world was divided between Aldi North and Aldi South. Australia belongs to Aldi south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi#Business_organization
Do you have to watch propaganda films extolling Aldi South and castigating the perfidious huns of Aldi North?
Is it true that you have to sing Deutschland Uber Alles in a group every day before work?
They certainly don't have to be German, but a Store manager is as far as you can go without a degree.
No and no and no
why the 0.5% charge on card purchases. will you stop this policy anytime soon?
Only on credit card or paypass. This is a never ending complaint, probably agreement between Aldi and banks that can't be avoided (since products are already cheaper than others)
Saving/Cheque aren't surcharged (you need to insert/swipe the card the follow instruction).
I work in building design for various retail stores (small and large) and I understand ALDI have their own standards when it comes to designing their stores. Could you list out the 3 things in your store that make your job easier, and also 3 things that you think could be improved? ie, 3 good points and 3 bad points in regards to the store design and the 'hardware' that is installed. Be as general or specific as you wish.
- Isles should be fit enough for both pallet jack and customers to move around ( so when we are working we aren't really disturb customers's movement).
- Any related products are on same isles.
- Large / sufficient size of back warehouse.
Improve:
- Better exit gate to be monitored for any theft.Sorry it's all i can think of right now
Aisles mate. Isles are surrounded by water.
hahah..sorry
Is the Grana Pandano grated cheese discontinued, cause I can only ever find the shaved variety.. :(
It is not i guess (or probably already sold out by the time you came?)Try come in the morning or around 4-5pm (that's mostly when we run the chillers in my Aldi).
Is there any label on the shelf about it being discontinue or just temporarily unavailable?Thank you. There is unavailable labels.. I just havent seen it on the shelves for a few months.
Why most of the Aldi”s product designs are a cheap look alikes of major brands . Is it a deliberate attempt to confuse an average consumer so they think they are getting a better value product at cheaper price ?
It's true, but not most of them now.
I'm not sure about this marketing strategy. I guess in my point of view it does an attempt to attract consumers to their usual brand, later they will have it go and compare to the "original" brand.
Some says the content are actually the same, but I don't have any legit info about it, sorry.
My local ALDI was refurbished recently and I am now able by two things, first the refrigerated section bring first, so they are out of the fridge longer than they used to be, and second they dropped some items, including cooking chocolate melts, which were good value.
That's too bad. I'm not sure what was going on behind that. Usually if Aldi re new their store, they just close for couple days then come back fresh with full shelves.
If it is regular item (not special buys), i'm sure it will come back again (or just seasonal). I still see the cooking choc melts in my Aldi now.
Whats involved in the Grad Programme? apparently they can get 89K plus?
For doing what?Management things for many different fields like purchasing, distribution, store management etc
Does Alsi have plans to introduce an express aisle or self checkout for those quick shops (1 - 5 items)
I think no. This has been answered before.
thanks!
Are there any plans to have an item catalogue to search so you can see the current prices and items in store?
I find it frustrating that the app or website dont have this.No idea about this plan.
My suggestion is just ask the staff (we can check price easily).
Special buys item usually at the very end of lining tables in the center.
Sorry about that.
What is a dipole moment?
That moment in time when two Polish people's eye's first meet across the floor of a cafe…
What google says…
One thing I've noticed is how hard the staff work. I try to make things easy and have everything laid out and ready to go. My partner will do the collecting so the next person doesn't have to wait long.
I love the produce. I rarely shop at colesworths now considering I can get the same/similar thing cheaper at Aldi.
I love the produce.
fruit and veg are generally pretty bad though…
I've not had any problem. Maybe it's my local store or location?
Thank you so much, we appreciate something like this really.
Work in ALDI, You Can Ask Me Anything
- What is your mother's maiden name?
- What was the model of your first car?
- What was the name of you first pet?
Don't forget the street you grew up in . Always the street
Yea, the title kind of misleading (I just follow the suggested title).
I did explain, ask anything about Aldi, not myself, not my life's decision, why i still work in Aldi in my 30s etc..lol, people…
Where can I buy ALDI gift cards?
What percentage of the workers end up hooking up with eachother?