On 04/01/2018 13:05, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble writes:
Why do the media insist on calling Aldi a discount store? I've never seen "=
discounted" goods in their stores, and they don't try and bamboozle you wit=
h BOGOF deals, loyalty cards and all that rubbish. In fact that's probably =
why they're so successful. That and applying commonsense to their strategy.=

I think the idea is they only sell discounted products, so generally
there are no bogoffs, or further special reductions. Consequently,
they don't sell premium brands (e.g. you probably won't find Kelloggs
Corn Flakes), and usually have an own brand with similar packaging.

I mainly use them for browsing their limited time hardware products,
and because it's a nice stretch bicycle ride there and back. I do
try food from there occasionally, but I can tell the difference
between theirs and my local Waitrose, even if many people apparently
can't. There are one or two food things they have which I buy
regularly. They have no fast checkouts - if I go in and there are
significant checkout queues (and most people have full trollies),
I do a U-turn and exit immediately. They should probably get that
fixed.

Just mentioned on Radio 4, Aldi are planning to open several hundred
new stores by 2020, mainly in the South East where they are apparently
under-represented, and because their customer base is becoming higher
class, i.e. not just stealing Asda, Tesco, and Sainsbury customers,
this Christmas probably saw them taking share from Waitrose and M&S
too (not all figures are available yet - will be in a few weeks).
Apparently their hardware/clothing/household section stole significant
trade from Debenhams this Christmas too.


I also check the hardware regularly. I use their washing and dishwashing
products, also the "luxury" choc ices are particularly good. If you like
continental type food, they are good for charcuterie, also the fattening
christmas fare like Stollen and other cake/biscuit stuff. The malt
whisky isn't bad either. I find the fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat
pretty competitive although their bacon is not quite as good as the
"taste the difference" stuff. The other thing about varying the shopping
pattern is that Sainsburys and Tesco then regularly come up with offers
like a tenner off a £70 shop.