Aldi lays plan to sell travel services, insurance, internet and solar energy deals

Aldi is laying the groundwork for a possible move to offer Australian shoppers a range of services beyond supermarket goods.

German supermarket giant Aldi is exploring a possible future move into complementary consumer services such as internet provision, insurance, travel services and solar energy offers, as the lines between traditional food and grocery and other retail services become increasingly blurred.

Aldi, the third force in the local $100bn supermarket sector with market share of around 15 per cent and a network of nearly 600 stores, has grabbed for a string of trademarks to protect a growing retail strategy that could one day see it offer travel and health insurance or solar energy and internet deals.

Records show that Aldi has recently applied for a range of trademarks with IP Australia, the government agency tasked with administering intellectual property rights.

The trademarks Aldi is seeking to secure include Aldi Internet, Aldi Insurance, Aldi Travel and Aldi Solar. All the paperwork was filed with IP Australia by Aldi’s lawyers on the same day, May 11.

There is a growing trend for supermarkets to offer a range of ancillary products and services to customers, using their large store network and deep customer databases to spruik insurance, internet and mobile phone plans.

Woolworths and Coles have for many years offered insurance and mobile phone plans, with Aldi also having its own popular mobile phone offer.

But Aldi is yet to take a step into areas such as insurance, which has proved a lucrative business for its arch rivals.

Aldi may be moving towards offering services like internet, insurance and travel. Picture: AAP/Matthew Vasilescu

It is believed that Aldi is only in the early stages of exploring moving into ancillary services and has decided to put its foot on key trademarks to protect any future move into these sectors.

An Aldi spokeswoman confirmed it was looking to secure trademarks around a range of services such as insurance and internet.

“It is standard practice for us to register potential trademarks to futureproof our business. We have no immediate plans of expanding our business in these areas, but are always open to future opportunities to deliver value to our customers,” she said.

“As we look at how the Aldi proposition can drive further value to Australians, we are always exploring and considering verticals outside of our grocery offering where we can deliver a ‘Good Different’ experience.”

The details and specifications of the Aldi Travel trademark include travel arrangement, provision of travel information, advisory services related to travel as well as booking for accommodation and reservations.

Aldi has dipped its toe in the travel sector once before. In 2019 as part of its blockbuster ski and snow promotion it teamed up with ski slopes operator Perisher to hold a ­competition, giving away $30,000 of ski prizes such as ­family snow trips, weekend trips and lift passes.

The Aldi Solar trademark would cover a range of products and services, according to its IP Australia lodgement, such as solar panels as well as wholesaling and retailing services around solar energy systems, solar panels, solar batteries, solar collectors and solar cells.

This would also cover consumer advice in the field of energy production and solar energy systems.