You Probably Didn't Realize Aldi Cashiers Are Timed And Scored
When you go to check out at an Aldi, the experience is immediately different than at other grocery stores. Your cashier will almost always be seated – there's a reason Aldi cashiers sit down — and you're probably prepping to return your cart so you can get your rental deposit back. You'll also be rung up relatively quickly, thanks in part to the barcodes on multiple places across the product to make it easy to scan from any direction, according to CNN.
If you're an Aldi fan, you may know this is all done in the name of efficiency, the company's core goal and mission (via Aldi). However, did you know that Aldi cashiers have another reason to get you through the checkout line as quickly as possible? According to a Reddit thread, Aldi cashiers are timed and scored on just about everything they do.
Again, it's all in the name of efficiency, but is the pressure this causes employees too much? Keep reading to learn about the policies the company reportedly enforces and how you can help your Aldi cashier the next time you make a grocery run.
Aldi cashiers are timed and scored on all interactions
According to the Reddit thread, which appears to be posted by an Aldi employee, although this is unverified, "Cashiers are timed for time BETWEEN customers, How long DURING each individual customer, AND whether or not you 'pre dipped' your card in the pos machine."
In response to the news, several customers expressed surprise. For instance, one commenter wrote, "Love the reminder. I'm a loyal shopper and always make sure to say thank you and be kind to the employees." Meanwhile, another Redditor wasn't shocked by the discovery. In fact, they said that they turn it into a fun game when they check out, trying to beat the cashier. "Can I empty my cart faster than they can ring it up? I can never win, no matter how hard I try," they wrote.
Some Redditors, who claim to be Aldi employees, say they are sometimes expected to ring up as many as 1,200 items per hour. In fact, they're graded on an efficiency percentage that they have to meet per shift.
What's the deal with the required efficiency percentage?
In order to provide quick and efficient customer service, Aldi allegedly requires its cashiers to meet a certain percentage of items scanned per minute during checkout. Another person who claims to be a former Aldi employee took to Reddit to explain that each cashier's percentage must be 83% or higher after each shift. When asked by another Reddit user to clarify what this means, the former employee stated, "The way I took it was: 60 seconds in a minute. If I scan 60 items in a minute, that should be 100%."
If they failed to live up to the company's standards, the Reddit user claims that they might be required to take a training course or, otherwise, be fired. What's more, even if a cashier finished the day with the required 83%, they might still be met with hostility from management who expects employees to outperform the company-mandated requirement.
In a separate Reddit thread on the topic, yet another user who claimed to have been a former Aldi employee said, "It was the most stressful work environment I've ever been a part of. Between having a visible ranking board in the break room, to timing everything from ring time to stocking, you constantly felt in competition with your coworkers to keep your job." Perhaps that has something to do with why Aldi has been ranked in the bottom 35% of companies to work for on Comparably.
Aldi employees get daily statistical reports
While many consumers certainly appreciate a company that values efficiency, a number of Aldi customers have noted that the speed with which Aldi cashiers are required to move can come at the expense of their purchased goods. Matthew Lesky, an Aldi manager with over 305,000 followers on TikTok, took to the platform to explain that while it's "never anyone's intention" to crush customers' groceries, he wanted people to understand that employees are quite literally racing the clock as they try to improve their numbers.
When employees are clocking out after a shift, many restaurants and retail stores print off a slip with the employee's stats from that particular shift. At Aldi, Lesky explains, "We get a statistic report at the end of every shift on how fast we went, time in between customers, tender time, all sorts of stuff." However, apparently, even the statistic sheets seem to be adding more pressure to the already stressful work environment.
"After every shift was a paper that had all the totals. And almost every time, 'you hit 91%, but you should have hit 95%,'" a former Aldi employee claimed on Reddit. It's so stressful that some cashiers have tried to find cheats around the efficiency mandate by stopping the clock. So, next time you're shopping at Aldi, remember to be kind to your cashier and know they're moving fast for a good reason. And don't let the Aldi anxiety get to you.