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Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

Column: industry Tag: Aldi,Costco,store Published: 2024-12-06 09:23 Source: www.mashed.com Author: STEVEN LUNAUPDATED: DEC.

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Beyond the innovations of favorable pricing and above-average signature label products, both Aldi and Costco also take a singular approach to the grocery store checkout experience. What shopper hasn't been surprised by Aldi's seated cashier providing cheerfully casual service that might make you think you're shopping at Aldi all wrong. Likewise, seeing Costco's linear layout leading to a bag-free wrap-up might make you feel like you've made a mistake. It may cause a bit of culture shock at first, but once you've shopped at both chains a few times, you begin to see the pros and cons of how each store handles its ring-up requirements.

Not to brag, but I've had my share of experiences in both Aldi and Costco (weird flex, I know), and I've learned a thing or two about these checkout process disruptors. While both of these novel approaches take distinctive angles for getting customers rung up and running along their way, it's not a step forward in every aspect. From acceptable payment methods to the absence of grocery bags at the register, I've compiled the most unique features of Aldi and Costco, with a clear winner emerging on the conveyor belt. Check out the check outs at both and find out which process I prefer.

Aldi's seated cashiers are relaxed and seem more engaged with customers

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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In addition to the unfussy interiors, rent-a-buggy shopping cart policy, and unique supply chain innovations of Aldi stores, the check stand also includes a new approach for the grocery world: seated cashiers. Though it's not uncommon in other countries to find grocery store cashiers sitting rather than standing, it's a cardinal sin among American retailers to allow clerks the comfort of a soft chair while waiting for the next ring-up.

The first time I encountered this, I wondered if I'd interrupted someone's breaktime. Their cheerful greeting and refusal to stand up at my appearance told me this is just how the game is played at Aldi. Since the chair of choice was a banker's stool, there was no lack of eye contact, and the laid-back layout put me at ease. There's none of the visible awkwardness of a standing cashier expected to be busy at every second of the process. With well-cared-for cashiers manning their stations in a more relaxed manner, I found myself more relaxed as well. My hope is that the next phase of Aldi checkout reinvention is a gliding customer-side cart that delivers me to the register on a mechanical track, sort of like checking out at Haunted Mansion but with fewer ghosts. Now that would be an innovation.

Costco lines can seem endless and move very slowly

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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Anyone who's ever shopped at Costco at any time of day during any time of year has the ridiculous image of snaking check-out lines seared into their brain. The mass popularity of the warehouse outlet combined with giant carts filled with undeniable bargains inevitably leads to unending strands of carts waiting to cash out. I'd love to believe it's just a "me" thing — that I'm terrible at choosing times to shop and always hit rush hour at its peak. But I've shopped at Costco at all times of day for years and it's never any different; there are always endless strings of shoppers waiting to cash out and get on their way.

It's not just an American phenomenon, apparently. Costco in Japan experienced huge lines during its first location opening, and presumably still has customers finishing their purchases months later. I'd love to think that's an exaggeration, but knowing how long I've waited in Costco checkout lanes that flow back into merchandise aisles, I can imagine the sluggish pace of any of the warehouse's worldwide locations filled to the brim and moving at the speed of evolution. Or maybe I'm just an impatient Costco shopper. Whichever it is, I think a reconfiguration is long overdue.

Costco makes use of its constant supply of cardboard cartons instead of single-use bags

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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For as long as Costco shoppers can remember — myself included — there have never been grocery bags used to package items for carry-out. The sheer size and volume of the merchandise makes it impossible to fit most purchases into a full-sized paper bag, let alone the restrictive jellyfish geometry of a single-use plastic bag. Instead, Costco repurposes the cases their shipments arrive in as sturdy carrying cases to help cashiers neatly arrange items while aiding customers in hauling their wares home. With no backstock for Costco and all items stored on the sky-high warehouse shelves, customers can see an endless supply of boxes that make perfect back-to-the-car carriers for the same items that emerged from them in the first place.

If one of the benefits of shopping at Costco is a reduction in single-use plastic bags, then I'm all for it. I won't get started on how much single-use plastic is used to package the merchandise in the boxes; that would be an entirely different article. Suffice to say, the closed-loop process of unloading cartons of product and reloading them with purchases is a brilliant touch that minimizes needless waste on all fronts.

Aldi encourages customers to shop with reusable bags

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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As a chain, Aldi was an early adopter of the no-waste grocery bagging movement, eliminating single-use plastic bags in all locations as of January 2024 and encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags instead. Since this is the direction other slower-moving chains are coming around to, having a less-familiar company throw down the gauntlet will hopefully get the larger grocers to jump to the policy as well.

I've shopped at Aldi in one of the rare moments when all of my reusable grocery totes were still at home from my last grocery excursion. My solution was to use the cardboard boxes I'd seen in the store aisles, similar to a Costco experience. But if I hadn't arrived at that handy conclusion, I could have purchased paper grocery bags at the counter for .12 apiece, not a bad forgetfulness tax to get my wares home in a more organized fashion. Good for Aldi for refusing to coddle customers into giving up bags made of materials that are unlikely to vanish from the planet.

Costco offers self-check, while Aldi is employee-checkout only

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For the more hurried shoppers who don't have the time or patience to wait through an entire line at Costco, the recent addition of self-check lanes has been a mixed blessing. Yes, you can scan at your own pace rather than waiting while the clerk makes friendly conversation about the price of eggs with the customer three carts ahead of you. But the restricted space in the check-out section means you'll still have to find a place to stand while waiting without blocking the merchandise or the other aisles. Still, it's a much quicker process that gets you to the finish line well ahead of your fellow shoppers who'd rather have a qualified worker ring up their stacks of gazebo lights and fine French cheeses.

Aldi seems reluctant to launch a self-check concept in its stores, opting instead for the traditional clerk-run ring-up stations, though the tech-forward chain is slowly instituting a reinforced version of the ring-up-yourself kiosks with better product tracking to minimize theft and loss. As a fan of self-check, I look forward to the day when an Aldi visit can be a run-in ring-up run-out experience without the slow-down of standing in line with my fellow shoppers. I'm all about self-driven convenience.

Both chains accept a wide variety of electronic payment methods

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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Stepping into the 21st century to make purchasing power a more digital phenomenon, both Aldi and Costco have embraced the idea of the digital wallet to simplify the payment process. For Aldi, though PayPal is a no-go, the chain does accept Google and Apple Pay, as well as all credit and debit cards. Of course, old-fashioned cash and checks are part of the equation too. Essentially, unless you're planning to pay by trading in your old Xbox games for store credit to cover your pickles and granola, you're golden in the Aldi checkout procedure.

Costco has done an admirable job of expanding its payment acceptance in recent decades. The warehouse now accepts Google, Apple and Samsung, though if you plan to pay by card, it's a no-Mastercard only-Visa situation. This comes after a long stretch of American Express being the card of choice. However, you can use these cards to pay for purchases on Costco.com, which is confusing for customers who ring up both online and in person. Debit cards and travelers checks are also welcome currency, as are cash and checks.

Both stores provide digital receipts for app users, but Costco requires a paper receipt to leave the store

Aldi Vs Costco: Which Unique Checkout Experience Is Really Better?

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You know the Costco cashiering drill by now: Keep your receipt handy so you can show it to the gatekeeper at the scrolling garage door, who'll make sure you've gotten all the wares you paid for before making your exit. It seems like an incredible waste of paper, but it's a fair double-check for both Costco and customer, but it's another line you have to wait in just to get out of the store. But if your receipt happens to blow out of your hand on your way back to the car and you need proof of purchase to make a return down the line, you can easily consult the Costco app to find a digital version waiting for your review.

Aldi lets customers get back to their lives without a second check of their purchases. Once you grab your receipt, you're free to return your rented shopping trolley and hit the road. And if you stash your bill of goods in your pocket as you dash through the door, nobody stops you and makes you prove you just shopped in the store that you're leaving.

Winner: Aldi has a more favorable checkout system than Costco

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There may be many annoying things about shopping at Aldi, but the smooth-as-silk modern checkout process isn't one of them. Not only is it a more comfortable experience with lanes that somehow feel more spacious and elongated, it's also an easier-going encounter, thanks to quick digital tap-and-pay devices and friendly clerks who get to take a load off their tired feet while scanning my purchases. The bagging process is speedy, even if you're like me and you leave your reusables at home sometimes. Sure, returning the cart to its rental bay and getting your quarter back is a little strange. But it does nothing to hinder a checkout process that's quick and convenient for shoppers in a hurried world.

Costco may have the self-check angle, bagless carryout, and digital payment nailed down, but limitations like Visa-only and the illogical design that prevents customers from knowing which line they're standing in due to limited front-of-store space and no visual guides like lane markers on the floor cause unnecessary headaches that, to be ridiculously honest, prevent me from shopping there as much as I'd like to. It may seem silly to limit my visits based on the hassle of the checkout, but hey — that's the cost of doing grocery business. I'll opt for Aldi as the quick and easy ring-up haven over Costco any day of the week.

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