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Aldi worker reveals secrets of working at the supermarket including how checkout staff scan quickly to keep prices low
AN Aldi worker has lifted the lid on how the supermarket keeps prices low - and it’s partly to do with how fast staff scan items.
Brooke Hoskin, who works in the supermarket chain's Sydney branch in Australia, explained how staff are timed on how quick they are behind the tills.
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But as well as helping get customers out the store quicker, she says scanning items at a speedy pace also keeps prices low.
By serving customers at a quicker rate, staff can move onto their next job more quickly, Brooke explains.
This then means stores need to have less staff on shift, she says, and having less staff to pay means Aldi can keep prices down.
Commenting on her job in a video, Brooke said: "We run a tight shift which means we have less staff with more tasks to complete.
Why are Aldi workers so quick when scanning items?
WHILE Brooke works in Australia, Aldi staff in the UK also have a reputation for super-speedy checkout service.
In fact, back in 2017 the supermarket claimed that its tills are 40 per cent quicker than rivals.
Part of Aldi's trick to having speedy tills is large barcodes on products.
Barcodes are also placed multiple times around items, making it easy for staff to find them and scan.
Previously, Aldi told The Sun that while speed is important it’s really about “customer experience” and that it understands different people pack bags at different speeds.
"If we get more customers out at a faster rate, that means we can move onto our next task faster.
"So having less staff on means a few things. One: we can lower our prices for you.
"Two: we can have a higher wage for us, the employees, which means we’re happier and the company has a better retention of staff."
Aldi has 500 stores across Australia, and its staff will get paid a different rate to their UK counterparts.
In the UK, Aldi staff are paid above the government's national living and minimum wages, which vary from £3.90 an hour for apprentices to £8.21 an hour for workers aged 25 and over.
However, wages do vary depending on where your store is based.
For example, Aldi shop assistants who work in stores outside of London's M25 earn up to £10.41 an hour, while wages rise to up £11.15 for London staff.
Brooke also confirmed staff do get monitored on how quick they are on the tills, although she says this doesn't form a "major" part of their performance review.
"But if you are consistently slow, managers may not be a big fan of that," she said.
In the UK, Aldi has 875 stores - use the to track down your nearest branch.
The Sun has asked Aldi UK and Aldi Australia for comment and we'll update this article if we hear back.
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Aldi has just launched a home delivery service for vulnerable and self-isolating customers.
The supermarket has also recently extended its opening times so customers have longer to browse.
The change in opening hours comes shortly after Aldi said it would stop selling some of its famous Specialbuys in the middle aisle of stores.
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