Last Updated: 10/12/2024

Today at Aldi the shop was nearly empty, maybe 4-5 customers all up… It did feel different, but not in a good way… Then I realised what had changed once I got to the checkouts. Last time I was there they had 6 checkout. Today there were only 2 left!

Since 2001 Aldi has been helping Australian buying groceries at an affordable and more realistic price than the other three bastards.. They slowly build up store after store to the current number of 500 Australia wide.. Everything was looking good and it seemed too easy..

Australian did struggle at first, to get use to this new “different way” of shopping… Brands than no one ever heard of, a checkout where they can scan 120 items per minute, no help filling the bag and no room to hold your bag while you were paying…

But we learned and eventually even appreciate this new way of shopping… After all the main reward was the huge difference in prices from the other three bastards..

But like any business, if you don’t keep an eye on the competition, you eventually find yourself out of the game. There are plenty of grocery store that are no longer with us for that exact reason..

Yes Aldi took the name different to their advantage or as a compliment as this ads clearly suggested..

They clearly wanted people to see this difference in every possible way and they did also succeeded in keeping the success going in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021,2022, 2023 according to Canstar Blue..

But here is my question: Is Aldi today in 2024 still that different from the other three bastards? And the answer is, No! No really… Not that much… Not anymore..

Lest start with the prices..

If you take the time to compare Aldi’s prices, you cannot help but noticing a constant price increase to the point that today they now match the three bastards on several basic items, like coffee, fruit, meats…

They all now have self checkouts, by far the most stupid and arrogant I may add, way of forcing your customer to still pay a top price and now also having to do their job.. Why are people so stupid not to see this.. In this society, the last thing we need is less jobs availability for the youngest and older generation..

 Do you believe out there, there is really some dimwit, that truly believe that the number of job will remain the same? Really??? Is that how it works? Because it didn’t work like that in Europe in the 90′

So, Aldi employs 10 people per shift. 5 work at the checkout and 5 do the re-filling. That’s 10 people for an 8 hour shift… Now we remove the checkout and introduce the self checkout that as we know still requires one person to be there to prevent theft and help people actually using the checkout.. What are the other 4 people now doing? What else has changed in the store, that now we need more workforce than before to achieve the same result??? Can we use 9 people to constantly re-filling? Has the store walls moved and the shop got bigger? Are the previous 5 employees that were perfectly able to keep the re-filling working just fine, got dumb all at once that cannot fulfil their job any longer?

The only possible explanation is that now those 4 extra worker will be relocate to a new opening store, if they accept the new location. But that doesn’t change the end results. They still have remove jobs and therefore increased their profitability, without passing the benefits to the consumer by reducing or at least having kept the same prices…

In this overcrowded society, we need more jobs not less and those self checkouts are definitely not going to help the situation.. I’m sure that’s the easiest and quickest way to increase profits for the shareholders, but once again, is this move really necessary in a place where they can scan 120 items per minute?

Bottom lines is that every time you use a self checkout, you are helping corporations in their final goal, but it does absolutely nothing to either help you or your family. If you are one of those person that use the excuse “those young people are so slow to scan the items, that I can do it a lot quicker myself and saving time”, I hope that you or your kids have no young teenagers in the family…

At this point where the prices are nearly identical and all four now offer self checkout, the only difference left for Aldi is the lack of range and the unknown name of brands, neither of which are actually good from a consumer point of view..

What has kept Aldi going so strong,was the prices of their products and the quick checkout compared to the other three bastards.. Now these two difference have gone, so it beg the question, of why would you still shop at Aldi?

It is happening… HERE  HERE  HERE  HERE

More of the same…

Responding to the criticism, Aldi acknowledged the price hikes in some areas but said it remained committed to providing Aussies with great value products.

Can someone explain me what this sentence actually mean?

Then we have:

“Aldi’s entire business model is oriented around saving customers money to ensure that we continue to lead as Australia’s lowest-price supermarket. We always aim to cut unnecessary costs and pass these savings directly onto customers,” an Aldi Australia spokesperson explained.

Highly unlikely judging by the current trend…

Aldi also sell Phone plans and lately even Insurance.. It looks like a Déjà vu! I’m sure next will be alcohol and then petrol stations..

Sure, some items are still cheaper, but for how long? I got the feeling that very, very soon, we will have four bastards selling and price gouging on food, alcohol, petrol and insurance in this country. But fear not, as we will also have no jobs left, to be concern with how to spend our earnings…

I would like to finish with a comment left from a user some time ago:

But also, why should you have to shop at Aldi. When did it become acceptable that the major supermarket brands who own the majority of our shopping landscape are out of reach to the majority of the population. Why can’t people see just how absurd it is?

I couldn’t have said it any better myself…