UK Supermarket: ALDI Revisited

Date: 2024-06-23

Continuing from our previous ALDI report.

ALDI's Other Famous Feature: The Ultra-Fast Checkout

Long queues at the till are what British supermarkets are most notorious for. So how does budget-busting ALDI handle it?

When you reach the checkout, you place your items from your trolley onto the conveyor belt (about 2–3 metres long) in front of the cashier. The cashier scans the barcodes and places items on the counter on the other side. But that counter is deliberately narrow — because there is a spot right beside it where you park your trolley, and you load your scanned items directly in as fast as they come.

If it's a quiet weekday afternoon with just a few items, you can pack straight into your reusable bags. But the standard ALDI system is: dump everything into the trolley at the till, then wheel it to the packing counter behind you and take your time bagging up there.

Just How Fast Are the Cashiers?

The secret to their speed lies in how the barcodes are printed. ALDI products carry exceptionally long barcodes — sometimes running the full length of the packaging — so the scanner can read them from virtually any angle without the cashier having to rotate or reposition items.

The result: a typical customer takes 20–30 seconds; even a big weekly shop takes under a minute. Combined with almost universal card payment (ALDI now accepts American Express, suggesting their customer base has moved well beyond budget shoppers), the checkout process is genuinely fast. No wonder the UK's "Big Four" supermarkets are watching ALDI and Lidl so nervously.

One detail: if you've parked in the car park, before you leave the store you enter your number plate on a screen above the packing counter to register your parking time.

Recommended Products

Here are some of our favourite finds from this visit.

Danish Traditional Butter Cookies in a Tin

A beautiful Danish tin with a classic Nordic pattern, 340g, just £1.99 (approximately ¥292). Crisp, lightly sweet, and perfect with a cup of milk tea. Two layers in the tin for £1.99 — extraordinary value. They disappeared very quickly, and we will definitely be buying these again.

ALDI's Premium Range: "Specially Selected"

Hand-Stretched Semi-Dried Tomato & Buffalo Mozzarella Sourdough Pizza — £3.29 (approximately ¥483).

Sourdough pizza is the current trend in upscale pizza restaurants in London and other cities, and here it is at supermarket prices. This product won the top prize in the UK supermarket chilled pizza category. The flavour genuinely comes close to a restaurant pizza. Highly recommended if you enjoy pizza.

Summary

Overall recommendation: 5/5

ALDI is a discount supermarket, so if you walk in expecting the same experience as a conventional British supermarket, you will be surprised in a few ways. Once you understand how it works, though, the value is exceptional. Being a German company, it excels particularly at German-style sausages, continental European hams and wines — and my personal favourite, pretzels.

My first ALDI experience was over 20 years ago, when we rented a car to drive the German Romantic Road. We stopped at a roadside ALDI for water and snacks and were amazed — the goods were displayed warehouse-style and the prices were dramatically lower than London supermarkets. When ALDI finally opened in London, we were delighted.

ALDI is a talking point in the global supermarket industry right now. If you come across one, step inside — it is well worth it.