this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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Ah I'm mostly grumbling anyways. The SCOs look the same as anywhere else had I begun shopping at Aldi after SCOs got there I probably wouldn't do anything different either.
But famously the cashiers at Aldi were super fast. They don't bag anything. They just toss it into your cart. They'd often have a spare cart or two and if you had a lot of groceries they'd put it into a new cart for you instead of waiting for yours to be empty. (And also is one of very few places in the US where they let cashiers sit down).
People who would attempt to bag their groceries while at the cashier (unless they only had a few things and got it done very quick) would attract ire from both the cashier and other customers for holding things up since they'd usually be done scanning before you'd get done bagging. Check this meme: https://x.com/ladbible/status/1270736248546758656 and the replies to it calling them out for bagging at checkout.
After you checkout, you were meant to go to the bagging counter and bag your stuff (in your own bags or some people use empty display boxes.) The bagging counter is on the front wall of the store right by the exit (see picture)
But if you notice next time, all the store brand stuff (90% of the stuff there) has unusually large and tall barcodes usually on multiple sides to help the cashiers be as fast as they are.
Also the SCOs at ALDI are some of the quickest I've EVER used in terms of scanning items. It doesn't need any delay between scans. If I only have one layer of stuff in my cart I usually just scan it while it's still in the cart using the hand scanner and can be gone in under two minutes.
Pro tip: Use (sturdy) boxes instead of bags.
Set them in the completed area of SCO before starting the process, or in the empty cart before the cashier starts. That way it gets scanned and goes straight into the box. The box then makes it easy to put into your car, and into your home.
That's a US thing. In Germany it's common practice everywhere that the cashier does the scanning, you do the putting in your cart, or wherever, but if "wherever" is slower than a cart you'll get death stares from other customers. They probably introduced that to deal with Americans who'd otherwise just stand there twiddling their thumbs.
Also ALDI cashiers have gotten slow: They introduced scanners very late, before that cashiers would rummage through the belt with one hand and enter four-digit codes with another. It was possible to keep up with fresh cashiers but the seasoned ones were absolute speed-hogs -- not that they'd mind you being slower, they just were done quickly because with practice, you get blazing fast at code entering.
Hey that's pretty cool. I did see the unbagging area when picking up few items yesterday. Going to give it a shot next time I go to Aldi. It's not a busy store and I always see an empty register, but maybe that's because everyone else is doing their shit right.
I did notice the bigger bar codes and that the Aldi registers scanned real well but somehow didn't put the two things together.