While self-checkout counters are a life-saver at supermarkets, they come with issues of their own. With Aldi in Australia introducing self-service registers across their chains in the country, not all customers are happy. At the same time, due to information provided by an ex-Aldi employee, shoppers are becoming aware of the reason behind a mystifying Aldi practice.
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As reported by Daily Mail, a Reddit thread on self-check out instituted at a neighbourhood Aldi store led to a huge discussion on the pros and cons of this new system, as well as some new revelations about employee practices at Aldi.
Why Aldi staff are so fast at scanning groceries
The fact that Aldi staff are in an epic hurry to finish scanning all purchases is quite well-know. This phenomenon is so infamous that there are numerous memes and parody videos of this online.
An ex-employee commented in the aforementioned Reddit thread and offered the real reason this happens. Apparently, Aldi employees are timed on how long they take to bag groceries, and so it is important for them to have as little time as possible when it comes to their personal rate of items per minute.
Ex Aldi employee here - don't pack your bags at the register. Toss it all into the trolley/basket when scanned at take your time at the packing bench just next to the registers. Or buy those bags that hook into the trolley basket so you can kinda pack quickly.
We were measured on items per minute when on register - which is shown at the end of your shift when closing out your individual till. Promise you they're not doing it for fun.
Problems with self-check out service
One of the main complaints customers seem to be having with the new self-serve registers is that usually the customers don’t seem to be bagging their groceries fast enough. One person says,
Yes. They nag you if you aren't bagging fast enough. Really annoying.
I don't frigg around when I shop. I dont have a problem with normal aldi checkout bagging speed. But even I'm not fast enough to keep the self checking robot voice from nagging me.
There were however some people who appreciated the changes. One comment stated,
At least now I can pack my groceries without it being thrown at my face! No offense for Aldi staff, but you guys are just too quick!
Sources used:
Daily Mail: ‘Ex Aldi worker shares the REAL reason staff scan your groceries so fast - as customers criticise the new self-serve checkouts’
Reddit: ‘Self-checkout at my local Aldi!’
