ALDI's Business Model: Can it Work in Other Industries?

This report analyses the success of ALDI's business model and grocery operations, and explores whether similar models can work in other industries. It also discusses the sacrifices customers have to make when shopping at ALDI instead of traditional supermarkets.

Case study report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Can business models similar to ALDI work in other industries ?...............................................3
What sacrifices customers have to make for accessing ALDI's way of shopping ?...................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
ALDI is the common brand name of 2 German multinational supermarket chains which
were founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946. This report will analyse the case
study based on ALDI's business model and grocery operations to answer questions regarding
change in similar consumer trends across other industries and the sacrifices they have to make by
forgoing traditional shopping methods which have been successfully undercut by ALDI's
creative pursuits.
MAIN BODY
Can business models similar to ALDI work in other industries ?
This company's style of conducting retail operations is born out of the growing trend
among consumers to forgo classic methods of bulk shopping and go for specialised products
within close distance for convenience and better efficiency (Das Nair, 2020). This same principle
has also been affecting other industries such as electronics and fast fashion sectors and both these
avenues can have the same model as ALDI, the reasons for which are stated herein.
 Electronics – Customers have stopped going towards big retailers selling everything
under one roof and brand specific specialised locations are being increasingly preferred
when it comes to things like Apple Mobiles, LG OLED TV's and the Sony PlayStation
for gaming.
 Fast Fashion – Big changes are being observed in this sector as well as consumers do not
like travelling long distances for their clothing needs and are much more comfortable
either shopping online or using fast fashion brands like H&M and Uniqlo who are using
same strategy as ALDI by providing quality products at small scale premium locations
(Hwang and Lee, 2018).
What sacrifices customers have to make for accessing ALDI's way of shopping ?
Although the way people shop has effectively changed thanks to companies like ALDI
undercutting traditional huge scale supermarket chains by providing a focused variety of goods
at much more convenient locations, customers have to sacrifice a lot of factors to adopt to this
method which are stated below.

 Veteran supermarket chains are much more trustworthy in the long run due to having
served the public well for decades building goodwill and this leads to customers
sacrificing brand loyalty. Target market of ALDI also have to let go of lucrative offers and coupons on products
that are generally found in large supermarkets due to the large spectrum of brands
undertaking sales promotion tactics to increase sales (Stanton, 2018).
 Customers also have to forego the sheer luxury of variety in product offerings in huge
scale supermarkets as ALDI only sells limited or solo brands of products which are often
self made.
CONCLUSION
The above concluded report highlighted the business model displayed by ALDI which
has been a resounding reason behind it's success in retail sector based on a case study regarding
it's operations. Other industries and sectors were compared with ALDI and it's way of conducting
business in order to determine the extent to which it's trade practices could work for other firms.
The discussion was concluded with a brief outlook regarding the various sacrifices that
customers have to bear when they decide to shop with ALDI instead of a traditional supermarket.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Das Nair, R., 2020. The “supermarket revolution” in the South. In Handbook on urban food
security in the global South. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hwang, Y.M. and Lee, K.C., 2018. Using an eye-tracking approach to explore gender differences
in visual attention and shopping attitudes in an online shopping environment.
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 34(1), pp.15-24.
Stanton, J.L., 2018. A brief history of food retail. British Food Journal.