Aldi Australia: Why doesn’t the store have express lanes?
One Aldi shopper has shared her big gripe with the discount supermarket, causing hundreds of people to agree. But what are your thoughts?
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Aldi might be a family favourite thanks to its discount prices, but that doesn’t mean the supermarket chain is without its downsides, according to some shoppers.
One woman has shared on Facebook how during a recent Aldi shop she was subjected to the evil eye from “grumps” behind her at the checkout as she purchased $400 worth of groceries.
As a result, she’s calling on the budget grocery store to up its game.
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“The dirty looks I got when I filled up the conveyor belt at Aldi by other impatient customers, who thought it was the end of the world that someone was doing a big shop, was phenomenal,” the mother of three wrote in the Aldi Mums Facebook group.
After detailing her ordeal, she ended her post by calling on the media to bring attention to Aldi’s need to introduce express lanes for the “grumps who basically want to shiv you like a prison line for smokes in commissary because they want to get ahead”.
The Facebook post soon attracted plenty of comments, with many mums saying they had experienced similar problems when doing big shops at Aldi.
“I shop for 3+ pets and the looks I get when I unload my trolley on the conveyor belt are vicious!” one wrote.
“I once had a lady slam a divider down on the belt and put her few items up. I had only unloaded half my trolley. Took great delight in pushing her sh*t out of the way so I could keep unloading.”
“I have 4 kids and a dog, my weekly shops are massive the looks I get most weeks could kill,” another commented.
Agreeing with the original post, plenty of mums also said the store needed an express lane for smaller shops, arguing it was “stupid” Aldi stores didn’t have them.
“Not anything about your shop but I do feel they need an express lane or self serve check outs for the smaller shops,” one wrote.
“They should have an express lane it does help. I sometimes only need 1 or 2 things & find myself stuck behind people with a trolley full to the brim,” another added.
Another added there was “nothing worse” than being behind a big trolley of groceries at Aldi when you only wanted to get a few things.
“It’s only going to get worse this time of year! Aldi should have a quick lane like other supermarkets,” they wrote, while another added: “I have to admit the lack of express lane really puts me off stopping off at Aldi to grab a couple of quick things, like a bottle of milk (or wine).”
Meanwhile, others said paying for their groceries was rarely a problem for them at Aldi as the checkouts moved quickly and the store would usually open more aisles if there were people waiting.
“I just let people in front of me if they only have a handful, generally they get through it quickly,” one mum wrote. “I don’t think they need an express lane.”
“Aldi are great at opening new registers at busy times … I think if people look at my trolley and don’t want to be behind me all they need do is wait a minute for a new register to open,” another commented.
“In all seriousness though, Aldi checkout move pretty quickly so they should all just take a deep breath and wait patiently,” another wrote.
An Aldi Australia spokeswoman told news.com.au that while they “constantly review” processes they had no plans to introduce express checkouts.
“Shopping at ALDI is a unique experience, but one that we are proud of,” a statement read. “We constantly review our processes and are open to receiving customer feedback to ensure we continue to deliver exceptional value and great service to our customers.
“Our checkouts are known for efficiency and speed and we have found that the current checkout format meets the needs of our shoppers.”
Originally published as Aldi Australia: Why doesn’t the store have express lanes?