Aldi

Aldi is just one of those supermarkets that you just gotta love. The reason is simply because it's products are cheap. I'll be honest with you. It got me thinking how they are economically able to do it amidst a society with a high cost of living. So I tried comparing Aldi with its giant counterparts like Coles and Woolworths.

So I've summed up my observation, in case they're any aspiring supermarket entrepreneurs in Brunei reading this. :)

• SIZE matters: Aldi supermarkets are 1/3 the size of its rivals. Smaller shops smaller rent.

• Simplicity: And I mean this in the most literal sense. Aldi has the simplest layout I've ever seen in any supermarkets. Lets put it this way, if I was talking about movies, our local Indian supermarket would be a Blockbuster movie and Aldi would be a low budget independent movie. Really, renovation is kept to a minimal and shelvings are almost non existent. The only shelves you would see are up against the wall. In between the aisle the just put the goods on wooden pallets. But guess what...it works.

• They CHOOSE the products: Let's say your looking for a Dishwashing liquid. You go there and find it but wait...there's only one brand. Is it the brand you want? Who cares, it's cheap. Let's face it, when you go to your local shop, you see 5 different brands of dishwashing liquid. Despite the fact you have a fav. brand you would also notice the cheapest...Aldi simply does that for you.

• Quality: Just because they choose the cheapest doesn't mean they forgo quality.

• Shopping trolleys: Reduce the no. of shopping trolleys and use coin operated trolleys. Ok, maybe the latter is more to benefit the community so that we return the trolleys to get our coin back...but it's better than trying to park your car to find that a trolley is in your way.

• Reusable shopping bags: I know for us it's a bit drastic. You should have seen the look on our faces the first time we shopped at Aldi. Imagine a cart full of goods only to find out that they don't provide plastic shopping bags. They do sell tote bags(which at the time they ran out). So, imagine pushing our trolley back to the car and chucking our stuff in the backseat. But not providing plastic bags, your reducing cost while being environmentally conscious. I saw some at Supasave a few months back. If you see it, buy one and use. Refuse plastic bags.
  

In a nutshell, their concept is simple and effective. Cut cost wherever you can, lower your overheads so you can sell your products at a lower price.