Shop like a pro: First time shoppers’ guide to ALDI

When you first step inside an ALDI, you will notice a few differences to other supermarkets. Being (good) different is what we are famous for and means that shoppers can enjoy high quality products at permanently low prices. It’s why more than three million people shop with us each week and why we’ve been repeatedly named Australia’s favourite supermarket.

If you’re ALDI curious and ready to give it a go, grab your shopping list, review our handy step-by-step guide and get ready to discover a completely new way of shopping.

1. Bring a gold coin
Our coin deposit trolley system helps prevent dumped trolleys and keeps our prices low. On your first trip, be sure to bring along a $1 or $2 coin, which you can retrieve at the end of your shop. Many of our customers love our reusable $0.99 Trolley Token that you can pick up at the checkout and attach to your keyring, meaning you’ll never be caught without a trolley if you’re out of gold coins.

2. Bring your bags or buy them in store
You won’t find a single use shopping bag in any ALDI store. In fact, we’ve never offered them. So be prepared to bring your own shopping bags, or alternatively purchase a reusable bag in store. We sell both a $0.15 heavy-duty plastic bag made from 80% recycled material, as well as a $0.99 material bag and a $1.99 cooler bag, which you can grab when you’re at the checkout.

3. Get to know the ALDI brands
Wondering why ALDI is so much smaller than other supermarkets? We sell 1,450 everyday products, compared to other supermarkets which sell over 20,000. What that means is that you’re not overwhelmed by choice because we’ve done the hard work for you. More than 90% of ALDI’s products are what we call our ‘exclusive brands’, which we mostly source from Australia. We’re proud to work with more than 1,000 Australian suppliers each year to develop high quality products at market leading prices. We also test every product to make sure it’s just as good as or better than the market leader, at a fraction of the price.

4. Go natural with No Artificial Colours storewide
ALDI is proud to be the only supermarket in Australia to be completely free from artificial colours across our entire range of branded and exclusively branded food items*. We’ve worked closely with our suppliers over the years to eliminate these nasty additives which have been proven to cause hyperactivity in children. So you can be confident in knowing that every food product in store is completely free of artificial colours.

5. Find out about Special Buys in advance
Step into the centre aisle at ALDI and you’ll discover a wide range of items, including everything from furniture and homewares to gardening equipment and ski attire. ALDI’s iconic Special Buys go on sale every Wednesday and Saturday and are themed to fit the kinds of things customers are most likely to be interested in at that time of year. To make sure you know what’s coming up next, check out the latest ALDI catalogue or sign up to ALDI’s Special Buys newsletters. If you’ve got your heart set on something coming up, be sure to get to the store as early as possible on the day, as Special Buys are limited and only available while stocks last.

6. Checkout with ease
You may notice that ALDI’s checkouts are extra long. In fact, at a standard size of 3.98 metres, our conveyor belts are much longer than the industry standard between 2- 2.5 metres. We’ve designed them that way so you can unload your entire shop in one go. Once you have done so, move your trolley to the other side of the register so you’re ready to load your groceries back in.
Our store assistants are known for being lightning fast at the checkouts, meaning you’re in and out of the store in no time! How do they do it? Most of our products have multiple barcodes on them to make them easier to scan. Don’t worry, if you like to take your time when putting your groceries back into your trolley, our assistants are trained to match your preferred pace. And if you’re looking for self-service registers, you won’t find these at ALDI, as customers have told us they prefer face-to-face interactions.

We’ve just scratched the surface with our introduction to ALDI so stay tuned for more articles with tips and tricks to make the most of your shop. 

*excluding pet food