If you’ve ever been to an ALDI, a cost-effective grocery store, you may be familiar with the concept of BYOB (bring your own bags) and BYOQ (bring your own quarter). If you’re new to this supermarket, you may be wondering why in the world you need 25 cents to utilize your grocery prerogative, the shopping cart.
Upon arriving at an ALDI, you will find that all the shopping carts are neatly lined up and chained together. To gain access to a cart, you need to insert a quarter and by returning your cart, your quarter is released.
It turns out that ALDI is actually saving you money when they ask for two bits.
ALDI, which opened in Duluth in October 2017, is a grocery store that prides itself on being extremely cost effective for its customers. With roots that can be traced back to Germany in 1913, ALDI has locations all around the world. Opening up its first U.S. location in Iowa in 1976, ALDI now has more than 1,600 U.S. stores in 35 states and brings in more than 40 million customers each month. These customers will find that more than 90 percent of the products in ALDI are ALDI-exclusive brands. By switching to ALDI-exclusive brands, shoppers can save up to 50 percent on their weekly must-haves compared to purchasing national brands.
The late founders, Theo and Karl Albrecht, were very frugal themselves, refusing to pay for advertising for their stores, so it’s no surprise that ALDI stands by “bringing shoppers the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices every day.”
In addition to selling ALDI exclusive brands, some of ALDI’s other tactics to keep prices down include encouraging customers to bring their own bags or purchase ALDI’s long-lasting, reusable bags (to cut bag fees from their prices), and utilizing the quarter system for their carts.
So how does using a quarter to get a cart save customers money?
Well, according to ALDI’s website, this cart rental system saves money by ensuring customers return their carts to the designated locations so they don’t have to hire someone to monitor the parking lot and attend to stray carts.
“The shopping cart rental system is one of many ALDI efficiencies that enable us to keep our prices so low,” ALDI’s website explains in a FAQ section. “Not only do customers get their deposit back, there are no stray carts taking up space in the parking lot or causing dents to cars. By not having to hire someone to police the shopping carts, we are able to pass the savings on to our customers.”
In an attempt to see if this innovative addition was actually effective and beneficial, the Duluth ALDI store manager was contacted; however, due to ALDI policy, she was not able to comment. ALDI’s public relation department was also contacted but did not respond.
Customers at the Hermantown location said the cart system works.
“I was kind of confused at first,” said Evan Vick, a frequent ALDI shopper, “but now I really don’t even think about it. I know I need to bring a quarter when I come to ALDI, and I guess their reasoning makes sense. You never see any stray carts in the parking lot, so it seems to be getting the job done.”
