Over the next five years, ALDI Australia is embarking on a series of new initiatives that will see the business adopting smart and bespoke technology to expand the reach of its Good Different shopping experience.
Both ALDI’s growing customer base and employees will have an improved experience, while also achieving the ambitious goals to reduce the company’s environmental footprint.
Improving customer convenience 
ALDI recently celebrated its legacy of 20 years in Australia having contributed $30.2 billion to the economy and saved Australians $2.4 billion per year when they shop at ALDI compared to other major supermarkets.
This year, ALDI implemented its first e-commerce trial in Australia.
“The business is now looking to expand the offering, after receiving positive feedback from the trial of a limited selection of Special Buys available for purchase online,” ALDI Australia said in a statement.
“Additionally, ALDI is undertaking a self-checkout trial in 10 NSW stores to provide customers with quicker ways to shop and drive business efficiencies. The expectation is that pending the results of the trial, the self-checkouts will be rolled out more widely.”
This week ALDI opened the first ‘Corner Store’ in North Sydney, a new small-format store layout, offering a range of ready-to-go meals and an artisan bakery. The reimagined store layout maximises efficiency for cosmopolitan customers, with a modern interior design complemented by simple navigation, self-checkouts and extended trading hours.
“There is potential to expand this offering to other heavily populated, urban areas in the future,” the retailer said.
Leveraging technology to increase business efficiencies
When it comes to leveraging technology, ALDI Australia CEO Tom Daunt says to date the company has sat back and purposely not been hasty regarding early adoption of the latest fads.
“We have long maintained that, until the cost of innovation proves to be viable, we will not invest,” says Mr Daunt.
“Having watched the market and evaluated which technological advancements provide cost-saving and which customers also respond to favourably, we’ve strategically set on a path to modernise our business while maintaining our Good Different approach, underpinned by our core purpose of providing high quality groceries at incredibly low prices.”
Big changes are also planned for its distribution centres (DCs). In the years ahead, ALDI will be upgrading its DCs on the east coast. The existing six DCs spread across NSW, Victoria and Queensland will be replaced by three new larger, high-tech warehouses, that will leverage the benefits of high bay storage and automated picking. There will be one in each state. “These plans are in their infancy and will not impact daily operations until at least 2025 in NSW and 2026 in Queensland and Victoria,” ALDI said.
Sustainable practices for a brighter future
One of ALDI’s core values is Responsibility and, having just achieved its goal to fully power the business utilising 100% renewable electricity, Mr Daunt said by 2025 the business is on track to have reduced its plastics and packaging by 25% and will be sending zero waste to landfill.
“For twenty years we’ve been operating in Australia to the beat of our own unique drum and that’s not going to change. As we embark on a range of significant projects to sustain our growth, we remain committed to building a business that is good for our employees, good for our business partners and good for our customers,” Mr Daunt concluded.