Aldi's Barcode Strategy
I&#x27;ve been an Aldi fan for more than a decade, buying almost all of my family&#x27;s groceries there (four kids, it&#x27;s cheap and doesn&#x27;t require figuring out what is <i>really on sale</i> this week vs. what is <i>really over-priced</i> this week, or messing with Coupons).  The quality of most of their products meets or exceeds that of the name brands[1] except in a few circumstances (their equivalents to Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats are <i>very</i> sub-par, but in the case of the Cheerios, they&#x27;re about half the price for a much larger box, so we mix &#x27;em).<p>I actually get a little stressed when I arrive with a cart full of groceries and an empty line -- they ring them up at about twice the speed I can pull them off the cart.<p>The Aldi process is very well thought out.  They&#x27;re the only cashiers I&#x27;ve seen that sit in a chair while ringing things up.  They needn&#x27;t move, nearly at all, beyond swiping things past the register to read those giant barcodes (on anything store branded, which is most things).  I remarked to the cashier about their ridiculous speed and was informed they are also tracked, directly, on their speed and have targets to meet (and incentives if they&#x27;re &quot;the fastest&quot;).<p>[1] Their produce is consistently good (love the sweet, small, green grapes) and their Frozen Chicken Nuggets are better tasting than any I&#x27;ve purchased, including the organic ones at Costco.