Aldi reveals how "Special Buys" products are selected
While most are attracted to Aldi by the low prices and no-frills, no-nonsense approach, plenty of shoppers will head to the German supermarket to take advantage of Special Buys, which are limited-edition runs of heavily-discounted products.
These assorted, limited-run products, which could be anything from hardware to children’s clothing, make up one-fifth of Aldi’s total sales. And though they might seem to be selected on a curious whim, the truth is they’re anything but.
Aldi CEO Tom Daunt told News.com.au, “We scout the entire retail market. We have a really good buying department, we have buying directors whose job it is to range products. We look across all categories, hardware, children’s clothing, textiles, fashion, garden centres, nurseries, whatever.
“We don’t sell everything, obviously, but if we look into hardware for example, and we notice that particular products and categories are selling well, we’ll go out to the market and say, ‘Can we buy that, can we get a better quality and potentially get it onto the shop floor for a much lower price?’
“Where we answer that question positively, you’ll find it here. There are products we just can’t do that, so we leave it alone. We’re not in the business of selling everything.
“We’ve got an inverter generator and an air compressor here, for god’s sake. You can go out into the market and buy them any day of the week, but because they’re generally slow sellers, you pay a big premium.
“What we’re able to do with the special buys is bring a heap of really interesting products people can use in their life, whether it’s ski or sporting goods, homewares, furniture, computing, whatever, but because there’s such high volumes and turnover, we just bring the price right down.”
So, if you wondered why you walked into an Aldi for bread and milk and came out with a set of skis and gardening equipment, now you know! Do you shop at Aldi, or do you prefer Coles, Woolworths or IGA? Let us know in the comments section below.