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Nov 22, 2023

One mistake Aldi shoppers make at checkout that could cost them valuable packing time

Aldi cashiers are known for their fast service at the checkouts Aldi cashiers

Aldi cashiers are known for their fast service at the checkouts

Aldi cashiers can scan your weekly shop faster than Usain Bolt can take on a 100 metre sprint. And it can be pretty daunting standing at the end of the tills scrambling to make sure your bread doesn't get squashed and your fruit doesn't get bruised.

But there's one mistake that most shoppers make that could be costing them valuable packing time when it comes to paying for your goods.

The secret behind the lightning speed of Aldi's checkout staff is that most products have multiple barcodes on the packaging, making them easier and therefore, faster to scan. They’re not superhumans, after all, but it can still often feel like you’re taking your life into your own hands when you go to pack your shop.

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The pressure is elevated because, at many Aldi stores, you’re not really meant to pack your bags at the check out. There's a special packing shelf before you leave the store to do that.

Yet many of us still insist on the race against time and the adrenaline rush of packing at the till before the sales assistant announces the price of your haul.

During recent trips to the budget supermarket to see what's new in the Specialbuys aisle, I’ve discovered a handy way of buying a little extra time at the checkout without holding everyone up, letting goods pile up, or doing that really annoying thing by spreading your weekly shop across the whole conveyor belt leaving huge gaps.

The trick is in the payment method, and you have two options, really, because the main mistake that shoppers are making, losing themselves valuable time to stuff goods into carrier bags, is by paying contactless.

It's understandable, mind you. During the pandemic many people ditched cash, the limit for contactless card spending was raised to accommodate larger purchases, and shoppers avoided touching the pin pads of card machines at all costs.

But the best way to buy time at the checkout is to put your card into the reader to pay. This is because the machine will buffer while it reads your card, giving you extra time to pack a few more items before it asks for your pin.

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Customers can punch in their four-digit number and pack even more shopping while the payment processes before showing ‘please remove card’. You can throw in your final items while the cashier grabs your receipt, and you can leave feeling smug about beating the system and bagging a bargain in the process.

Of course, this only works for a small trolley of shopping, having only been tested on two to three bags worth of stuff. The other payment option is to pay in cash, packing your shopping while your sales assistant counts the amount, and finds the correct change in the till. The key is to avoid using the quick, easy and convenient method of contactless to buy a valuable 60 seconds at the tills.

Other tips for the Aldi checkout to make sure your packing is swift and efficient include making sure you have enough bags for your shopping before the scanning starts, because nothing will slow you down like having to go back around to the conveyor belt to pick up an extra back having miscalculated.

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Also planning your packing and placing items on the conveyor belt in a set order will also help you save time. Add your heaviest items to the till first to line the base of your bags, leaving more delicate goods like bread, pastries and fruit until last.

If you have more than one item that's quite bulky, such as three crates of beer, load one onto the belt and tell the cashier how many you have. This way, you won't have to load them onto the belt and back into the trolley, saving a few extra seconds to pack everything else.

With this handy tips in mind, go and explore the Aldi Specialbuys and enjoy a swift, stress-free experience at the checkouts.

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