America’s Fastest-Growing Grocery Store Is Also the Cheapest

More people are turning to ALDI for affordable groceries.

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When I was growing up ALDI felt like our family’s little secret. Over dinners my dad would brag about how cheap yet delicious things like the ALDI brand chicken salad or pasta sauce were, showing them off like uncovered treasures to anyone who would listen. Well, it seems like the secret isout—and has been for some time. According to real-estate-services company Jones Lang Lasalle, ALDI is the fastest-我第三年的杂货商成长n a row.

In a press release,ALDI reportedthat it gained a million new customers in the last year alone, and in that same amount of time sales at existing stores saw double-digit sales growth. All the while, ALDI商店设法将订书钉定价比其他杂货店低约20-40%and offer services like the “Twice Is Nice Guarantee,” which promises that if you are not satisfied with an item you can bring it back for both a refundanda replacement.

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But how can the chain afford to keep things so affordable, especially as inflation hits the grocery industry hard?

How ALDI keeps prices low

Aldi采用了一些关键策略来保持价格较低,according to Insider. First is its focus on private label items, something that we’ve seen growing at其他主要零售商也是如此。Aldi脱颖而出,因为其自己的品牌占销售商品的90%以上。

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Theminimal size of each ALDI store,in terms of both physical space and the number ofitems stocked,also lowers the overhead cost每个位置。在任何给定时间Alditends to stock fewer than 2,000 SKUs compared to an average grocery store’s 10,000 or more,Insider reports. This not only saves the company, 但 also makes the store more attractive to购物者可能会be overwhelmed by choices at other larger stores.

ALDI stores also never play music. You may not even notice the silence, but it saves the company a significantamount of money on music licensing fees.

And there are a few different ways ALDI keeps its staffing budget lowerwhile still offering employeescompetitive wages and benefits.For example, there are no employees hired for specialty services likedeli counters, and no one bags groceries (that’s up to the customer).Additionally, features like theDIY shoppingcart system andstocking things on shelves directlyin theirdisplay-ready cases save on labor andtime.

ALDI’s marketing strategy

“Word of mouth is a huge contributor to our success,” Kate Kirkpatrick, ALDI Director of Communications, tells188betios下载. “We are incredibly fortunate to have a very loyal and enthusiastic fan base that takes pride in turning friends, family,and strangers into new ALDI fans.”

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Due to the success of word-of-mouth marketing, ALDI rarely spends money on big advertising campaigns. In fact,its current creative marketing push is intentionally (and literally) quite small.

“In October, we installed tiny, interactive billboards in high-traffic areas in Atlanta, Dallas,and Minneapolis as a way to visually showcase the tiny prices (and huge savings) our customers can expect when they shop at our stores,” Kirkpatrick says. “Local residents were invited to join in the search for the tiny billboards and then scan the QR code to be entered to win free groceries for a year.”

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Kirkpatrick says that in addition to special promotions like theALDI Thanksgiving Price Rewind, there are also plans to drop prices on more than 80 of the store’s top-selling itemsincluding fresh and frozen vegetables, baking ingredients, ground beef, bacon,and cheese.

在Aldi购买的最佳物品

For the fourth year, ALDI surveyed its superfans to gather a list of their favorite things to help guide newcomers to the store. Here are the essential items,according to that survey:

If you wanted to buy every single item on this list,它会花费你around $55 (based on Chicago prices; yours may vary).For comparison, a similar grocery order would run you around $77 at Whole Foods. With price differences like that, it’s no wonder that more and more people are turning to ALDI.

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