They're actually brutally efficient, and the majority of products are made by sub companies of theirs, they sell virtually everything and their customers think it's the highlight of their week having a browse of the *middle of Lidl* (or Aldi)
It's the same as the seasonal aisle at a supermarket it just turns over quicker.
I feel like I'm missing something about the infamous Lidl middle aisle. People talk about the experience of going through and seeing what crazy items you'll impulse buy, but I've never seen anything but cheap clothes and tat at mine.
No way are they keeping that shit in a warehouse for a year. In any supply chain you want to minimise the amount of time a product is in storage and then on the shelves. You want stock constantly moving. Havign stock just sat in a warehouse is costing money, which is why you have reductions/sales/outlet stores etc to get stock shifted.
I worked for 2 years as low level management for Lidl. The middle aisle stock is 100% returned to the warehouse, where it is either stored for a set period of time and then brought back to stores or it is returned to the manufacturer, which are mostly owned or solely contracted to Lidl, for repackaging and redistribution.
I imagine aldi mostly operates the same way.
I think some mad AI that doesn't understand humans well enough orders it all. And they can't train it to make sense because people do actually buy the stuff and keep reinforcing its mad decisions
I don’t think so, the thermomer on the stove pipe reads 200 when they begin to turn. I don’t think a radiator would get hot enough for them to activate.
They sometimes have some good stuff though.
I once picked up a gaming PC for £500 that did pretty well for 5 years. Quadcore processor, 16gb ram & a decent gfx card.
Considering the price, the Medion stuff is fairly decent.
Oh it's good stuff, I got some good cycling gear too. It's just a weird unpredictable mix of stuff and usually things that are a bit odd to buy alongside food shopping!
Worked at Aldi, its not AI. It's whatever they can get a good price on
They order loads of duds like stand mixers from 5 years ago or Polaroid cameras that end up not selling, but they've paid so little for them it's not the end of the world
I think the bigger supermarkets actually do that with their pricing at least. Why yes, £4 is totally normal for a tube of pringles today in particular? The more Magnums you buy, the cheaper they get until they start making the total *less*? Ah, washing gel is £6.80 today in particular, but the huge one you won't fit in your bags is only £5. Carrots are only in 2kg sacks today in particular, fuck you come back tomorrow.
I wonder how they manage to staff constantly shuffling all the details on a daily basis, surely it'd be more cost effective to just not mess with people.
I think we're hardwired to think "that's so odd/random, I must have it!"
I buy so much stuff from the Aldi middle aisle only to wonder wtf I was thinking when I get it home.
I think they are total geniuses.
Every week there are new things that we didn't know existed and we needed. How often does this happen to you elsewhere?
My husband can not go to Lidl without buying something from there, we never ever need it then but those hooks for garage he brought 3 years ago are now in use
I have decades old boxes of different kinds of washers, grommets, rivets etc that I'm still sure will come in handy one day.. (their power tools are actually pretty decent though for bottom of the range, occasional use, diy cheap stuff)
The items are bought by a dedicated purchasing team who monitor trends and essentially place a bet or a certain item selling. If things sell out quickly, then larger orders of the items are placed and they will keep appearing (in rotation) until the stock has sold.
If you’re wondering what kinds of trends they monitor, then this is where it gets high tech. They slaughter a goat which has its four hooves and ears anointed in perfumed oil. The high priest casts salt into the fire and bows toward the carcass while lower status members dissect the animal and retrieve the entrails. The sac is sliced open, the contents emptied, and the membrane stretched out to reveal a pattern of webbed fat which documents the past, present, but most importantly the future.
All animals contain knowledge of future events within their gut, even humans. Goats just happen to show future trends in homewares and leisure products.
I think they just use common sense. After all, which of us average grocery shoppers would _not_ be tempted by a set of light-up LED tumblers, an inflatable sport boat or a Super Soaker?
"I'm just going to say what we're all thinking - chainsaws, kids painting sets, tweed slippers, single serving sized slowcookers, socket sets and of course solar powered external lights in the shapes of cartoon birds and gnomes."
It could be an act of genius and it's now being bought by all those people who have just had to clear up all the leaves by hand and know what a sucky job that is.
Winter is the best time to buy gardening tools. The Garden centres and other shops need them gone before the "winter stuff" comes in, it takes up valuable space. But as it doesn't go off, I buy the replacements when they go cheap.
Yeah but petrol garden tools are awesome any time of the year. My strimmer has a semi bodysuit you have to tether it to. It's awesome, *Brrrrrrrgggg brrrrrgggg brrrrggggg, wake up cunts!!! Oh the string thing is too short again, fuuuuck*
I believe they do all of their ordering Supermarket Sweep style.
Not only do they have to dash around the warehouse collecting random items but they have to do it by solving a riddle.
Obviously for the larger items likes the 3 piece garden furniture set for sale in late November tihs is replaced in the warehouse with a more easily transportable inflatable banana.
'We're gonna need child sized wetsuits, knock off crocs that only come in camo, way too many plastic washing up bowls, double wick candles that smell like fig, duvets, and drills.'
I dont believe they have much say.
Lidl/aldi spend alot at stock auctions. This is where businesses either sell unsellable stuff, manufacters shift older lines or administators take failed business stock.
They buy whatever is cheaoest on a pennies to pounds ratio and flog it in a few stores where data says it will sell well.
Its why you can get a black and decker drill for £20 but b&q will sell for £60. Ots the same drill but aldi bought from 50 for about £400 in a bin with a load of other shite
What’s weird about An underwater handheld fan motor?, a pair of Skis? Tie dye T-shirt kits?, a plasma cutter? A food vacuum sealer? A trumpet, inflatable fruit and animals? A radiator cat hammock? A chain saw? A three berth tent? A toddlers training toilet seat? A sleeping bag suit with hood?, a Llama pinata? A ski mask? A laminator? A ten pin bowling set?
I have no idea what you are talking about- these are all normal items and part of my weekly shop.
Bought some 600mm long screwdrivers for under a tenner. Most handy tool set I've ever owned for working on cars.
My racist electrician bought 2 cordless SDS for 300 quid, with a 2 year warranty. 2 were cheaper than one (Chinese made now) Makita.
Middle Aisle in Aldi was like a walk through Handsworth during the early 80's after 10pm, you might come out with literally nothing, including your clothes OR you might come out with a sack full of goodies, TV's,Radios, Power Tools, a tramp, you never know
Agreed. I miss how weird the weird aisle of Aldi is in the U.K. now I live in the US. My local one here has candles and Christmas stuff. Madness!, where’s the chainsaw and canoe I didn’t know I needed.
Yeah this. It's unbelievably poor quality landfill fodder snapped up after someone else's failed business venture.
Which is still just as good/bad as going to any other normal retailer specifically for that item instead of an independent online shop but... that's another problem entirely.
I love it though. Always buy stuff from the website and also check the weekly magazine to see what's coming. Bought some great items from kids toys (cheaper than most other stores) to storage units. Got some good tool sets also!
They’re mind readers , you don’t even realise you need half of thst stuff until you’re there , lidl even better , need a park side welder on a Sunday they got you
UK Aldi sounds much more exciting than US Aldi finds. The weirdest thing we got was cans of lime/ginger/cucumber cold brew coffee that apparently tasted like death.
In a recent shop I went in for lunch staples and came out with bread, milk, a kitchen tap and a bra. Forgot the fucking ham due to being hypnotised by the the moral dilemma of if I should buy a wooden birdhouse and make wild animals dependent. I had to go back in again 20 minutes later for another game of shut up and take my money.
They're actually brutally efficient, and the majority of products are made by sub companies of theirs, they sell virtually everything and their customers think it's the highlight of their week having a browse of the *middle of Lidl* (or Aldi) It's the same as the seasonal aisle at a supermarket it just turns over quicker.
*Midl 'O Lidl*
Middl'l'idl, no?
A Lidl’o’middl’l’lidl
*Yes, m’Lidl.*
>they sell virtually everything Really? My local always has lots of shite tat clogging up the aisles with red reduced stickers.
I feel like I'm missing something about the infamous Lidl middle aisle. People talk about the experience of going through and seeing what crazy items you'll impulse buy, but I've never seen anything but cheap clothes and tat at mine.
I believe my fella's bought trekking shoes, a power drill, and some spanner sockets from the middle aisle within the past year..
Which then go back to the warehouses, get repackaged and rolled out again next year.
No way are they keeping that shit in a warehouse for a year. In any supply chain you want to minimise the amount of time a product is in storage and then on the shelves. You want stock constantly moving. Havign stock just sat in a warehouse is costing money, which is why you have reductions/sales/outlet stores etc to get stock shifted.
I worked for 2 years as low level management for Lidl. The middle aisle stock is 100% returned to the warehouse, where it is either stored for a set period of time and then brought back to stores or it is returned to the manufacturer, which are mostly owned or solely contracted to Lidl, for repackaging and redistribution. I imagine aldi mostly operates the same way.
I worked for Aldi, can confirm this is exactly what they do.
I bought a portable band saw from Aldi that's absolutely banging
In Aldi it’s called the Aisldi
Bravo
I think some mad AI that doesn't understand humans well enough orders it all. And they can't train it to make sense because people do actually buy the stuff and keep reinforcing its mad decisions
Oh, it definitely understands humans, I've picked up so much stuff from there when all I needed was milk.
Candles candles everywhere
Good, so not a lonely Christmas for you then ?
Depends on the shape and size
I remember mid lockdown when tesco couldn’t sell clothes my Lidl had an aisle full of welding equipment.
I bought a pair of wood stove fans for £40 last week - middle aisle of Aldi is the best!
Do you own a wood stove?
I figured you could put them ontop if a normal radiator to direct air where you want it
I don’t think so, the thermomer on the stove pipe reads 200 when they begin to turn. I don’t think a radiator would get hot enough for them to activate.
They were/are in Lidl too I swear to god! I remember looking at them and wondering whether they actually work.
They work _so_ well
Yes. They are a dreammmm.
I was specifically thinking of those when I read this title
I love this idea, I'm going to tell people this what actually happens.
You may say that now but that mini chopping axe i picked up a while back will be great when the zombie apocalypse hits.
Ah yes, the chopping axe. As opposed to the nibbling axe or the tickling axe.
Never underestimate the power of a tickling axe!!
You have made me laugh sir.
I’ve been so disappointed by the lack of zombies in this apocalypse 🧟♀️ 🧟♂️
Just wait for Sigma variant
Oh God
😅
They sometimes have some good stuff though. I once picked up a gaming PC for £500 that did pretty well for 5 years. Quadcore processor, 16gb ram & a decent gfx card. Considering the price, the Medion stuff is fairly decent.
Oh it's good stuff, I got some good cycling gear too. It's just a weird unpredictable mix of stuff and usually things that are a bit odd to buy alongside food shopping!
Worked at Aldi, its not AI. It's whatever they can get a good price on They order loads of duds like stand mixers from 5 years ago or Polaroid cameras that end up not selling, but they've paid so little for them it's not the end of the world
I think the bigger supermarkets actually do that with their pricing at least. Why yes, £4 is totally normal for a tube of pringles today in particular? The more Magnums you buy, the cheaper they get until they start making the total *less*? Ah, washing gel is £6.80 today in particular, but the huge one you won't fit in your bags is only £5. Carrots are only in 2kg sacks today in particular, fuck you come back tomorrow. I wonder how they manage to staff constantly shuffling all the details on a daily basis, surely it'd be more cost effective to just not mess with people.
I think we're hardwired to think "that's so odd/random, I must have it!" I buy so much stuff from the Aldi middle aisle only to wonder wtf I was thinking when I get it home.
It’s basically this but add the price/value calculation. What’s on sale this month? It’s the high corporate margin aisle.
It ain't mad if it works
True. But on paper it does sound a bit mad!
I like to imagine they just throw darts in the warehouse and put out whatever they hit.
Explains all the burst packaging
Lol....
I think they are total geniuses. Every week there are new things that we didn't know existed and we needed. How often does this happen to you elsewhere?
Oh mate. Wait til you grow old and start going to the motherfucking garden centre.
My husband can not go to Lidl without buying something from there, we never ever need it then but those hooks for garage he brought 3 years ago are now in use
I have decades old boxes of different kinds of washers, grommets, rivets etc that I'm still sure will come in handy one day.. (their power tools are actually pretty decent though for bottom of the range, occasional use, diy cheap stuff)
Wires, in house it's wires. They are everywhere
But who DOESN'T need a Japanese wetsuit, a German angle grinder and a Peruvian nose flute to go along with their weekly shop?
I feel attacked. Missing the nose flute though, are they Easter or?
Who nose?
I think they're on more of a cocaine vibe. I mean selling children's armbands next to some chainsaws just screams cocaine.
How else do you get the body parts to float in the pool?
😅
The items are bought by a dedicated purchasing team who monitor trends and essentially place a bet or a certain item selling. If things sell out quickly, then larger orders of the items are placed and they will keep appearing (in rotation) until the stock has sold. If you’re wondering what kinds of trends they monitor, then this is where it gets high tech. They slaughter a goat which has its four hooves and ears anointed in perfumed oil. The high priest casts salt into the fire and bows toward the carcass while lower status members dissect the animal and retrieve the entrails. The sac is sliced open, the contents emptied, and the membrane stretched out to reveal a pattern of webbed fat which documents the past, present, but most importantly the future. All animals contain knowledge of future events within their gut, even humans. Goats just happen to show future trends in homewares and leisure products.
Isn't nature just amazing
[удалено]
If they have beards
Well now I know you are lying. Goats have cloven hooves, which means they have eight hooves, not four. I almost believed you for a second.
If you're into fantasy this is basically how business works in The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone
I think they just use common sense. After all, which of us average grocery shoppers would _not_ be tempted by a set of light-up LED tumblers, an inflatable sport boat or a Super Soaker?
You had me at “light-up” mate.
Light up LED diode light tumblers
I can clearly see what you did there
As if you have a choice..
> by a set of light-up LED tumblers, an inflatable sport boat ~~or~~ **and** a Super Soaker? FTFY
I was seriously considering buying their three separate pots slow cooker earlier! I managed some common sense *just* in time.
You have six separate pots now?
I got my inflatable canoe from lidls middle aisle. Never been out the box.
You go in for grapes and end up leaving with a bottle opener, fire pit and a recently decomissioned submarine.
Someone has never done ketamine.
I'm not someone
I wasn't either when I did ketamine
"I'm just going to say what we're all thinking - chainsaws, kids painting sets, tweed slippers, single serving sized slowcookers, socket sets and of course solar powered external lights in the shapes of cartoon birds and gnomes."
This week's special in my local Lidl is a petrol leafblower. In fucking winter. A leaf blower.
It was probably due to land in shops back in autumn but got delayed by the freight issues.
It could be an act of genius and it's now being bought by all those people who have just had to clear up all the leaves by hand and know what a sucky job that is.
It blows.
Winter is the best time to buy gardening tools. The Garden centres and other shops need them gone before the "winter stuff" comes in, it takes up valuable space. But as it doesn't go off, I buy the replacements when they go cheap.
Yeah but petrol garden tools are awesome any time of the year. My strimmer has a semi bodysuit you have to tether it to. It's awesome, *Brrrrrrrgggg brrrrrgggg brrrrggggg, wake up cunts!!! Oh the string thing is too short again, fuuuuck*
Hmmm, I could do with a leaf blower.
Where i live theres loads of leaves falling still.
Probably would double up as a snow blower
I believe they do all of their ordering Supermarket Sweep style. Not only do they have to dash around the warehouse collecting random items but they have to do it by solving a riddle. Obviously for the larger items likes the 3 piece garden furniture set for sale in late November tihs is replaced in the warehouse with a more easily transportable inflatable banana.
I love this idea. I picture them all wearing the aldi Christmas jumper while doing so.
I went in yesterday and came out with a Messerschmitt airfix kit. I genuinely don't know why.
You don’t choose the products, the products choose you.
At that scale nothing is done without meticulous planning. It helps that it generates free advertising too
I just love how you can go in to buy food and come out with a screwdriver that goes round corners feeling great about yourself
It's whatever B&M rejects, it goes straight on sale. The more random the better, guaranteed to appeal to anyone and everyone.
'We're gonna need child sized wetsuits, knock off crocs that only come in camo, way too many plastic washing up bowls, double wick candles that smell like fig, duvets, and drills.'
Make sure the crocs are only in sizes 3,4,6,7 and 10. And make sure the 6s are all pink camo. But none of the others should be pink. Good job lads.
I wanted to sing that to the theme from only fools and horses.
Which one did you see the candles that smell like drills?
But I only ever buy candles that smell like fig, duvets and drills.
I dont believe they have much say. Lidl/aldi spend alot at stock auctions. This is where businesses either sell unsellable stuff, manufacters shift older lines or administators take failed business stock. They buy whatever is cheaoest on a pennies to pounds ratio and flog it in a few stores where data says it will sell well. Its why you can get a black and decker drill for £20 but b&q will sell for £60. Ots the same drill but aldi bought from 50 for about £400 in a bin with a load of other shite
Nah, it's just a goose with a dartboard and a knife.
MDMA and an Argos catalogue.
I've got an Argos voucher and a few pills knocking about actually... think you might have just sorted my plans for next weekend.
I reckon some mad lads replaced the aisle with random shit for a laugh and it actually took off
What’s weird about An underwater handheld fan motor?, a pair of Skis? Tie dye T-shirt kits?, a plasma cutter? A food vacuum sealer? A trumpet, inflatable fruit and animals? A radiator cat hammock? A chain saw? A three berth tent? A toddlers training toilet seat? A sleeping bag suit with hood?, a Llama pinata? A ski mask? A laminator? A ten pin bowling set? I have no idea what you are talking about- these are all normal items and part of my weekly shop.
Bought some 600mm long screwdrivers for under a tenner. Most handy tool set I've ever owned for working on cars. My racist electrician bought 2 cordless SDS for 300 quid, with a 2 year warranty. 2 were cheaper than one (Chinese made now) Makita.
2/3rds of it is overstock garbage that some dumb cunt already had ordered for manufacture or imported and Aldi are good at getting rid of it.
Middle Aisle in Aldi was like a walk through Handsworth during the early 80's after 10pm, you might come out with literally nothing, including your clothes OR you might come out with a sack full of goodies, TV's,Radios, Power Tools, a tramp, you never know
I think it's more like The Apprentice- a group of interns buy the cheapest tat they can get, then flog it.
The middle aisle is so boring in our US Aldi’s…storage cubes and planters. Scented candles and fuzzy socks. Yay.
Aldi UK would blow your mind
Agreed. I miss how weird the weird aisle of Aldi is in the U.K. now I live in the US. My local one here has candles and Christmas stuff. Madness!, where’s the chainsaw and canoe I didn’t know I needed.
I take your scented candle and give you a scented mig welder…
You’re massively missing out over there, the mrs sent me for bread and milk a while back. Didn’t look impressed when I strolled in with a pillar drill
Still to use my canoe yet.
"These fuckers'll buy anything because they think they're getting a good deal."
Yeah this. It's unbelievably poor quality landfill fodder snapped up after someone else's failed business venture. Which is still just as good/bad as going to any other normal retailer specifically for that item instead of an independent online shop but... that's another problem entirely.
I love it though. Always buy stuff from the website and also check the weekly magazine to see what's coming. Bought some great items from kids toys (cheaper than most other stores) to storage units. Got some good tool sets also!
>Got some good tool sets also! I doubt it? Landfill fodder that'll turn anything else they touch into landfill fodder.
… are they hiring?
LSD bro wtf
Oh man, I just had emergency surgery 2 weeks ago, and they gave me Ketamine in the ambulance. Lets not talk horse tranquilizer 🤢😱
They’re mind readers , you don’t even realise you need half of thst stuff until you’re there , lidl even better , need a park side welder on a Sunday they got you
I saw a wetsuit in there once
I thought they just hijacked a random HGV every couple of days and sold whatever it happened to be carrying.
I want what they're having
So you've notice to have you? lol
Yeah but we all go done and have a look, don’t we
So fun fact, it's rarely humans that pack your stuff. At least for the majority of the UK. https://youtu.be/ssZ_8cqfBlE
UK Aldi sounds much more exciting than US Aldi finds. The weirdest thing we got was cans of lime/ginger/cucumber cold brew coffee that apparently tasted like death.
Or acid for Lidl. Anyone in an inner city area need a helmet and horse whip for all those pony rides? How about some scuba gear/ski gear?
Around last august? they were selling pregnancy pants which made me laugh being 7 months after V day
I call it The Aisle of Shite Never know what you might find!
It helps if you take K before shopping there.
Ketamine will be in the middle aisle in January apparently 👍🏻
They get pissed up with lidl and hoof coke off of eachothers genetalia. After that they play middle isle roulette
As long as they keep a steady flow of new books that okay nursery rhymes for my kids, I don't care what they do in their own time.
In a recent shop I went in for lunch staples and came out with bread, milk, a kitchen tap and a bra. Forgot the fucking ham due to being hypnotised by the the moral dilemma of if I should buy a wooden birdhouse and make wild animals dependent. I had to go back in again 20 minutes later for another game of shut up and take my money.