Grocery Business: Germany's privately owned Aldi challenging Wallmart's Super Centers by being small, quality driven and cheaper

20% lower prices than Wallmart

Add Aldi to Walmart’s list of growth challenges. Already a force to be reckoned with more than 10,000 stores worldwide, including across Europe and Australia, the German retailer is catching on with shoppers in America, too.

Now operating 1,500 stores in 32 US states, Americans are getting to know one of the world’s largest privately-owned companies, a scrappy Walmart-fighter with substantially lower grocery prices than the once-unassailable, homegrown low-price leader.

And now Aldi has its sights set on more of the American pie.

While Aldi stores are typically only a fraction as large as a Walmart supercenter, with fewer national brands and an overall slimmer selection, Aldi grocery prices can average 20 percent lower than a Walmart in the same market, Bloomberg reported.

How is it undercutting Walmart? For a start, Aldi brings efficiency to its operations — a store can operate fully on just a handful of employees. Presentation is no-frills. Frugality is such that the chain makes customers pay a 25-cent deposit per cart, refundable only if they return it before they leave. That way, Aldi doesn’t have to pay employees just to go gather carts in the parking lot.

Aldi’s West Coast expansion inspired queues last week when it opened eight stores in Southern California, including one in Palm Springs. The Orange County Register chalked up the frenzy to “pent-up anticipation for the international grocery giant, known for its deep discounts and knockoff brands. If it continues, Aldi is expected to trigger upheaval in the crowded Southern California grocery sector.”

Insure-Digest