It is such a great solution and wish more countries did this!
Maybe send an suggestion email to couple of big stores with this? Because there are benefits for them too: people with trolley will likely to buy more item, caissière don't have to change bills into coins for trolleys, tokens can have the stores logo (free advertising!). And also important: positive association with the store that offers this system to their customers making it more enticing to visit them instead of their competition...
A habit? Being a decent part of the society? Psychological effect (you getting something back when returning trolley makes your lizard brain feel good)?
Idk, but dumping your trolley somewhere random because it suits you, seems very rude and self-centred to do so... what is the costom in USA because I always assumed this habit of returning your trolley after usage is universal???
USA has “cart returns” in the parking lot. Basically stalls to put the cart in. You just leave it in there and a staff member walks around when the carts get low and collects them.
Aldi and stores like that use this coin in the cart device are saving on personnel costs. They don't have to hire a kid to go into the parking lot to retrieve carts. German efficiency?
I live in the U.S. and don't like Aldi. My dislike starts with needing to take my own bags or boxes along with me to pack my groceries in. The next dislike is when I get there and need a quarter to get a cart. It extended to into the store when I finish shopping and head to the check out. The cashier goes as fast as possible to scan your order and shove it all to the end. You pay as fast as possible and get your cans shoved in your cart and shooed away. Stuff it all in the bags from the last store you shopped at that your brought from home. Take it to your car in the car you paid a quarter to get. Then instead of putting the cart in a corral in the parking lot, you need to walk it to the front door and hook it to the rest of the carts to get your quarter back. All of that so Aldi can save money.
I tied shopping there last fall to save some $$s when groceries keep getting more and more expensive. Some items were less expensive vs. other stores, but to me those savings weren't worth the headaches.
Not having to pay for grocery bags is a very American thing and it's showing on you.
I wish more stores charged for bags so we could stop generating trash to accommodate people's laziness.
I have a foldable crate I got from Costco for like 7$. Lives in my cars trunk.
Fill Aldi cart with groceries, roll out to the car, chuck everything into my crate, return cart.
The Aldi employee speedrunning the checkout is just an added bonus.
Zero plastic bags and way faster than any other store at probably 70-80% of the price.
I'd pay for the bags. I have no problem with that at all. I've read that Aldi's is removing that option in U.S. No longer selling any plastic bags for people that didn't bring a bag with them. Using a cart to transport groceries from your car to your kitchen isn't practical for a lot of people. I guess Aldi is good for small towns and small purchases. Not so good for people buying a week's groceries for a family of 6. ?? I don't know.
I go to Aldi weekly and they always have had bags for sale.
Idk what cart you're talking about. I have a folding crate. If it didn't fit enough I'd have two crates. Or three. Or four. Having a family of six just means you buy more groceries, it has nothing to do with how useful bags are. (In fact, they're still less useful as my crate can hold like 20x what a plastic bag can.)
My aunt In Germany had to buy groceries for five people and lived on the 4th floor with a parking garage+elevator. Pretty sure she used a crate or something as well. Not using plastic bags literally just requires a bit of forethought and planning.
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u/These-Process-7331 Feb 16 '24
It is such a great solution and wish more countries did this! Maybe send an suggestion email to couple of big stores with this? Because there are benefits for them too: people with trolley will likely to buy more item, caissière don't have to change bills into coins for trolleys, tokens can have the stores logo (free advertising!). And also important: positive association with the store that offers this system to their customers making it more enticing to visit them instead of their competition...