I guess it depends where you live and how you shop. Every ALDI I've been to in metropolitan SA has had terrible.range and since I already buy home brand products there is very little price difference. ALDI also tend to get inferior locations here so you have to go out of your way to shop at one, whereas a Coles, Woolworths, Foodland or Drakes will often be in a group of shops that includes one or two competitors, an independent fruit & veg grocer and maybe an independent butcher, fishmonger and liquor store. I have a local ALDI that I will occasionally walk to and buy a couple of things from, but I would never rely on it as part of my regular shops.

[–] DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee 16 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I fucking love Aldi. I shopped there when I was poor as hell in college and I'd still go there now if they had any nearby. Sure their selection is limited but what they have is legit and their deals are phenomenal.

[–] cheers_queers@lemm.ee 5 points 3 days ago

they have totally upped their game in the last 10 years as well. they have way more stuff than ever and i barely need to go anywhere else anymore. got the best wine of my life there last winter too.

[–] MorpheusB@aus.social 5 points 3 days ago

@DontMakeMoreBabies @zero_gravitas I can get all I need bar some spices/herbs at about 50% of Coles cost

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 15 points 3 days ago

Woolies and Coles: How can we compete if we're not allowed to overcharge our customers?

[–] melbaboutown@aussie.zone 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Aldi is less accessible for me but if this wasn’t the case I’d happily adjust to the limited range and shop there as exclusively as I could. Fuck Colesworth

[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

the fact that they've squashed so much of the fucking market that Aldi is the only viable competitor they can think of - a chain so fucking small comparatively that an international friend I recently caught up with noted the same store availability as when she was last here a decade ago is a condemnation of the pair in and of itself

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 3 points 2 days ago

We had a local IGA open in our estate recently. There are some things that are more expensive than Colesworth, but only by a small margin.

The same when a Foodworks opened where we used to live.

Being able to stroll to the supermarket is a nice luxury; it is quicker to walk to IGA than to drive to the nearest Coles or Woolworths.

[–] Longmactoppedup@aussie.zone 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Another thing I like about aldi is it doesn't have inane music and ads blasting at you over a P.A. If I go there when it's not peak time it's nearly silent which makes shopping feel very peaceful and makes me want to spend longer in the place.

Also much faster to navigate than colesworth due to less aisles of stuff I mostly have no interest in.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The Aldi near us recently added self serve checkouts. They work, they don’t nag and they still have an attendant to happily make small-talk and help customers.

[–] Longmactoppedup@aussie.zone 6 points 3 days ago

Yes! Another great point. I have a very high success rate with aldi self serve checkouts. Coles ones frequently have issues resulting in waiting for the attendant.

[–] a1studmuffin@aussie.zone 7 points 3 days ago

Wow, they even acknowledged that customers will go to ALDI then go to Colesworth afterwards because ALDI didn't have everything they needed. Sounds like real serious competition to me! About as threatening as a local market or butcher.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 days ago

Yo half of the US would be starving if it wasn't for Aldi.

[–] treleanor@aus.social 6 points 3 days ago (3 children)

@zero_gravitas @MorpheusB I noticed “The Aldi near us recently added self serve checkouts.” If my Aldi did that, I’d definitely shop there. Mine has the slowest checkouts in the world (tested by monkeys) and tries to make me late for my bus. It’s not unknown for me to dump my stuff and walk out.

[–] wildwhitehorses@aussie.zone 5 points 3 days ago

The checkout staff at my local Aldi are so fast I swear they are super human or on meth ( i mean it is Perth). Colesworth on the other hand are slow.

[–] MorpheusB@aus.social 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

@treleanor @zero_gravitas I do not like the self-serve checkouts. Prefer human.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 1 points 2 days ago

I can go either way, however I do prefer self-serve if I am in a hurry and only have a few things. That said, the sluggishness of the Woolworths ones, and the Twenty Questions whenever I try to use them (and the inference from them that I am a thief) means that I will go to the service desk instead.

The friendliness of other Aldi customers is also refreshing. I have had other customers wave me through because i only have a couple of things; I usually buy a few Chupa Chups when I am checking out for those other customers, as a thankyou.

Safeway and Coles customers are typically more self-absorbed and militant about the queue.

[–] treleanor@aus.social 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

@MorpheusB @zero_gravitas I generally prefer human-served checkouts. But Aldi closest to me, in busy shopping centre, has the worst checkouts I’ve encountered anywhere. So slow. Plus when you’re in a queue, an announcement will come, “Checkout number whatever is closing, go to another,” and everyone shuffles over and enrages people in that queue. My blood pressure is quite high enough without that.

[–] cheers_queers@lemm.ee 1 points 3 days ago

mine has them now. it's nice. I'm guessing they'll slowly add them to all locations eventually.