The Albrecht brothers wrote economic history with the invention of the discounter. Inflation increases the attractiveness of low-cost suppliers. However, experts at Aldi see a need to catch up in one area.
Exterior view of an Aldi branch in Düsseldorf at dusk
In view of the dramatic price increases for groceries, the discounters are currently experiencing a boom. With their focus on inexpensive products, they have their finger on the pulse of the times. So it is fitting that the discount inventor Aldi is celebrating an important anniversary this year. 110 years ago, the Aldi founding family, the Albrecht, laid the foundation for today's retail empire. On April 10, 1913, the baker Karl Albrecht started a “trade in baked goods” in Essen.
One of the largest trading empires in the world emerged from small beginnings. The sister companies Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are now not only active in Europe and North America, but also in Australia.
Still an important role
“The discounters, with their cheap offers, are more important than ever for many households,” said retail expert Robert Kecskes from the market research company GfK of the German Press Agency. So it's no wonder that, according to GfK, the discounters increased their market share in Germany from 34.8 to 36.9 percent in just 12 months by the end of 2022 – at the expense of supermarkets and specialist retailers.
At the beginning of the year, too, the shift in sales to low-cost suppliers continued unabated. However, despite all the pioneering spirit, it is not the baker Karl Albrecht who is behind the success story of the Albrecht family. It is his sons Karl Junior and Theo Albrecht who made the company big.
Mülheim an der Ruhr: The largest ALDI SÜD branch in the world was opened here in 2020 – in the middle of the Ruhr area
Discounters march through
After their father's death, they took over responsibility in their parents' business and developed the discount concept. The first “Aldi” store – the abbreviation stands for “Albrecht-Diskount” – was opened in 1962, a good 60 years ago. The original recipe for success: a small range in a sparse ambience at rock-bottom prices.
Aldi and, a little later, its rival Lidl in Germany and subsequently in many other countries as well, taught the supermarket competition to fear.< /p>
Design instead of euro pallet
However, today's Aldi branches have little in common with those of the early days. Where once cold neon light and goods on wooden pallets characterized the shop image, modern shop design with a feel-good ambience has long since found its way. And in addition to the classic own brands, there are now more and more branded items at Aldi. “People today want a pleasant shopping environment. The discounters had a lot of catching up to do and they did it,” said Kecskes.
Ironically, the discounters are struggling with their most important feature – the low prices – at the moment. They, too, recently had to raise prices sharply – in percentage terms, even more so than many branded goods companies, as Kecskes reports.
Because the drastically increased energy and procurement costs had an even greater impact on the private brands, which are priced at a lower level, than on the manufacturer brands with their generally significantly higher advertising expenses and profit margins. However, the decisive factor for customers is probably that despite the jump in price, own brands are usually still significantly cheaper at the checkout than branded products.
Aldi's competitor Lidl is now also present worldwide and could soon outstrip Aldi online
Online trade under construction
So is everything okay in the anniversary year? Not quite. According to the trade expert Gerrit Heinemann from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, Aldi in particular still has a neglected construction site: online trading. “Until now, the discounters have not had to deal with the topic of online trading to a large extent,” says the retail expert.
But it is only a matter of time before the topic becomes relevant for them too. “And then it will be difficult for Aldi, because the rival Lidl has a considerable lead here.”
Will the eternal rival pull away?
In fact, Lidl has managed to secure a place among the top ten German e-commerce retailers with its online shop in the most recent ranking by the Cologne retail research institute EHI. With sales of a good one billion euros, lidl.de took 8th place in the ranking, even though the discounter hardly offers any groceries online. For comparison: Aldi's online shop is not among the top 100 at all.
Heinemann is convinced that the imbalance should set alarm bells ringing at Aldi. “It's easy for Lidl to flip the switch and also sell groceries when the time comes. Aldi is far from ready.”
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Know your destination
Grocery stores in Germany are categorized, which can be confusing for newcomers. Some chains are supermarkets, others are called discounters. There are also organic markets that only sell organic food. For recipes from the Middle East, Turkish and Arabic markets are recommended, for Asian cuisine, the, well? Asian market! It's not that difficult if you know what you want.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Variety at a price
While typical supermarkets offer a wider range of products, discount chains offer fewer brands and goods, which can make searching frustrating. Nevertheless, the Sparfuchs approach of the German discounters has developed into an export hit. Lidl and Aldi have opened stores all over the world.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
No shopping cart without small change!
Many emigrants are amused by the chained shopping carts. 50 cents, one or two euros are necessary to unlock – and could probably not seriously deter anyone from stealing. But that's not what it's about: the deposit is intended to motivate customers to return the trolley properly after use. Only when the cart is reconnected will the coin be released.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Amaze your home country with cheap prices
A pudding in a discount store caused a diplomatic uproar when an Israeli posted his receipt as a posted proof of the unbeatably low cost of living in the German capital. Israeli politicians got angry because people could “leave Israel for a pudding”.
11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Eggs are not in the refrigerated counter
Any North American would head to the refrigerated section in search of eggs. In Germany they are on the normal shelf. Why? To prevent salmonella, eggs in the US are disinfected before they go to stores. However, the process destroys the outer protective layer, which is why the eggs must be refrigerated. In the EU, the eggs remain untreated, here the chickens are vaccinated.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Plan in advance for Sunday
Fill the fridge in advance because the shops are closed on Sundays. The opening hours are regulated by law so that employees have a guaranteed rest day. An alternative are kiosks and petrol stations that are open on Sundays and offer the essentials. And there are exceptions: On shopping Sundays – especially before Christmas – all shops are allowed to open their doors.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
Long weekends are like the apocalypse
As in other places, German families often celebrate holidays such as Easter and Christmas with festive meals. When shopping shortly before, there is an atmosphere in the supermarket like before an imminent nuclear attack. If you only need bread or chocolate on a day like this: go to the bakery, to the kiosk or, ideally, do without them altogether! Really, that's well-intentioned advice!
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11 useful ones Tips for the German supermarket
A new checkout leads to chaos
The clichéd German order quickly falls overboard as soon as another supermarket checkout opens. Priority is not given to whoever has been waiting the longest in one of the existing queues, instead a race breaks out in which the use of elbows and shopping trolleys seems to be allowed as tools. When it comes to saving a few minutes, the Germans know nothing.
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11 useful tips for the German supermarket
The importance of dividers
Let's be honest: would you have known the name of this ruler-length thing that separates customers' goods from each other? If you put your purchase on the conveyor belt and think there is still time to use the goods separator because there are still a few meters to the checkout: Forget it! Otherwise you are sure to get angry looks, a correction is possible. Some priorities shouldn't be doubted.
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11 Useful Tips for the German Supermarket
Cashiers are also effective while sitting down
Anyone who comes to Germany from other parts of Europe will not stumble over a cultural difference – unlike North Americans who come from the supermarkets in their home country standing cashiers are used to. In Germany you sit at the cash register. This fact does not prevent cashiers from being extremely effective.
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11 useful tips for German supermarkets
Pack up quickly!
It's long been a running gag among newcomers: quick check-in + little space to pack = stress! Do you remember the goods divider? No matter how important it is, it suddenly doesn't matter anymore, the cashier simply pushes the next customer's goods into your shopping cart. If you pack slowly, it's your own fault.