When you approach the checkout line at Aldi, you might be surprised to see the cashier sitting on a stool behind the register rather than standing. This is not an attempt at taking a break, but Aldi’s management policy: cashiers have to sit down while ringing you up.

The reasoning behind this unusual tactic comes back to what seems to be one of Aldi's main objectives: productivity. It seems that cashiers can scan your items faster from a seated position. The employees’ ringing speed at checkout is constantly tracked and measured and the observations revealed that seated cashiers equal speedier transactions.

A Reddit thread revealed that there is quite a bit of strategy to increasing your "ring speed." User @dbrianmorgan provided tips for his fellow Aldi employees to save time, including occasionally leaving their seats behind the register to help customers that are slow to unload their groceries.