After all the speculation and hype around ALDI earlier in the year, things have finally all fallen into place for the brand. If you didn’t believe it before then these latest results will surely sway your mind. Bringing power to the people through surveys and questionnaires is a way to deliver honesty around how they really feel and it appears in this instance, we Australians are rejoicing over ALDI.
The German owned supermarket chain was recently dubbed the best supermarket in Australia for a second year running according to customer satisfaction research conducted by Canstar Blue. ALDI was awarded 5 stars in four of the eight categories after 3,000 shoppers were surveyed. The most interesting fact was that nearly 23% of all shoppers have changed their supermarket chain within the past 12 months in order to browse through ALDI’s aisles instead.
ALDI may have a complicated history relating to the owners (brotherly disagreements and such), but that hasn’t stopped the brand from entering Australia and tackling the two biggest grocery companies in Oz. The figure of 23% may not sound huge, but by putting this into perspective, those aged in their 30s are more likely to switch brands to save money. Equally, people within their 30’s and 40’s were most likely to follow special offers and change their buying habits to suit their pocket. So with ALDI positioned as the preferred discount store in the grocery sector, they’re primed to continue their impressive growth.
Megan Doyle from Canstar Blue stated that, “Some people simply can’t over look the convenience of shopping at the closest supermarket to the home or workplace. Most consumers like to be familiar with the layout of their local store and the products it sells, so it takes a lot to make someone switch.”
The results of the above report are based on those 3,000 customers being given much better choice when it comes to spending their money on groceries. Increased competition both within physical stores and online has widened the public’s eyes to more saving opportunities than they have ever been exposed to before.
The backbone to Aldi’s success has to be down to their wide product variety, good store layout and ultimately good value for money. This is supported by the reports findings that 71% of respondents concentrate on supermarket promotions to save money, whilst 35% base their shopping on where the cheapest bread and milk can be bought. Mostly though, customer’s top reason for changing was to save money (50%).
Since ALDI’s arrival in Australia it has attracted numerous customers away from ‘the big two’ (Woolies and Coles). Not all customers stayed with Aldi, however, as some did return to IGA, Coles or Woolworths, but not nearly as many as those who left them. The main motivator for the change away from ALID appears to be related to certain customers believing that Coles of Woolies products for example were of superior quality.
Either way, I could go on for pages and pages discussing the reasons why customers have left big brands such as Coles and Woolies but ultimately being humans we love habitual rituals and shopping at our same store is one of them. If another store opens up that happens to be less expensive, its only natural to check it out and potentially adjust our shopping rituals. ALDI’s large expansion plans across Australia make this scenario very probable for numerous Aussies.
Morgan Stanley released a complimentary report, which supports all of the evidence from the Canstar Blue findings. After the latter report, however, Morgan Stanley did re-adjust their market share forecast from its original position of 5.5% for Aldi up to 11.1% in 5 years time. To put this into perspective, Woolworths currently holds 38.5% and Coles 31.8%.
The expansion of the company is great for customers looking to hop onto the ALDI bandwagon. The supermarket chain intends on opening 130 new stores in South Australia and WA, plus an additional 20 stores in the eastern states. With all this momentum, Choice.com.au has also conducted a recent survey on the supermarket industry and found that you can save up to 50% off your weekly grocery shop with ALDI.
An ALDI spokesperson recently released a quote to the press stating: ‘Aldi Australia is delighted to receive Canstar’s most satisfied customer award in the supermarket category for the fourth time in the last five years.” So, if you had doubts before about the brand and needed some persuasion to visit one of their stores, Morgan Stanley and Canstar Blue’s findings should provide an adequate nudge. Each individual will have their own positive or negative experiences ALDI, but generally across the board there seems little evidence suggest that they won’t be able to save you a good deal of money. Don’t forget though, saving money still requires diligence and you shouldn’t stop being on the look out for a bargain. If you ever feel lost then visit our deals page and type the company’s name into the search bar to see what our latest deal submissions consist of.
ALDI Dominates Ratings with the Happiest Customers and Lowest Prices is a post from: Buckscoop - The Oz Bargain Blog