ALDI A German Retailing Icon Case Solution

Aldi has become highly successful as it has differentiated itself from competitors on many fronts. Firstly, the retailer’s focus on limited assortment gives a focus and a sense of direction to the employees and the customers. The limited assortment regularly features discounts and promotional offers where large queues are witnessed outside Aldi’s stores. With Aldi’s focus only on essential items, primary food, the ultimate savings are passed on to the consumer. The grocery business is one which is usually never out of business as consumers in various countries will continue to purchase essential food items. Hence, Aldi has stuck firmly to the provision of food items.

Secondly, staying simple and not being overwhelmed by retail giants such as Wal-Mart have made the company’s structure and employees tougher. The philosophy of the company is to weather the storm and focus on their core values. These core values can be said to be the quality of food items, the cleanliness of stores, and exceptional discounts. As for simplicity, Aldi’s charismatic owners do not like to be in the limelight. For example, the management has instructed its employees to stay tight-lipped to external sources. This saves the company some unnecessary hype and media attention and also prevents disgruntling scandals as part of the international retail industry.

Thirdly, Aldi’s focus on international expansion but staying within the limits of private labels has also been a success story. Even with aggressive international expansion within Europe and then to North America, the company’s philosophy has remained simple. Aldi shall continue to promote and sell private labels at prices 20 to 30 percent lower than supermarkets. For the success of private labels in a time of branded items and expensive products, it was essential to create customer trust and in order to enable them to keep coming back to Aldi’s stores. Such trust and reputation were established because of Aldi’s regular quality checks, lab testing, and tests for food freshness.