The One Small Thing I Wish Aldi Offered

Lisa Freedman
Lisa FreedmanExecutive Lifestyle Director
Lisa Freedman is the Executive Lifestyle Director at The Kitchn. She has never met a cheese or a washi tape she didn't like. She lives in New York state with her husband and their pup, Millie.
updated May 1, 2019
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Entrance of Aldi food market with brick facade and sliding glass doors.
(Image credit: Lisa Freedman)

If you’ve read this post or this post, you know that I have nothing but love for Aldi. The discount grocery chain is my go-to for coffee, snacks, produce, and more. There’s just one itty, bitty thing about Aldi that I wish I could change. (And I mean no disrespect, Aldi, I still love you so hard!)

That one thing: I really wish Aldi had an express checkout option.

I know that Aldi does all sorts of things to cut their bottom line in order to pass the savings down to the shopper. For that reason, there are no shopping bags (you can bring your own, pay for some on the spot, or use some of the available boxes used to stock the shelves throughout the store), and no one to bag your groceries. Your cashier puts your stuff right into a cart as they scan it. You pay, take that cart, leave your cart, and then bag (or box) your stuff in the designated area.

(Image credit: Lisa Freedman)

Oh, and the barcodes on most items are super long so that that cashiers don’t have to waste time looking for it. This way, they’re more likely to hit it on the first pass on the scanner and move on quickly to the next item.

All of this is to say that the checkout process at Aldi is a decently quick, well-oiled machine.

But sometimes. Sometimes! It’s not quite fast enough. I often pop into the store just to pick up a few bags of coffee. Or five things of produce. And then I have to get in line behind several people with packed-to-the-brim carts. And before I commit to getting in line, I do that mental dance: Should I put everything back and just forget it? Should I dig out my car’s Aldi Quarter and get a cart to do some serious shopping like everyone else? Do I just get in line and enjoy the downtime? There’s no right answer and I’ve actually done all three.

Waiting doesn’t take that long, mind you — probably a minute (maybe two) per giant cart ahead of me. It’s just that it would be faster if I could go directly to a 12-items-or-fewer lane. Because basically no one ahead of me has 12 items or fewer. It’s more like 120 or less. But maybe I just answered my own question? Maybe I’m the only one who’s buying just a few items at a time and there’s just no need?

More on Aldi

What do you think? Do you wish Aldi had an express checkout lane? Or do you fill your cart each and every trip?