ALDI of Garden City MI. keeps the shopping carts corralled for a quarter.....What a concept. Why didn't I think of that?
ALDI is an international grocer with stores in sixteen countries and the United States. They minimize costs by having groceries out on simple shelving, still in boxes. Store size is much smaller than the big box stores. After you go through the register you bag or box your own groceries on a shelf provided for your convenience. The product brands are not well known names but are of great quality. Any savings is passed on to the customer.
Look how all of the shopping carts are nice and neat. Out of the parking lot and just waiting for you to come and get one. They don't just go there all by themselves. NOPE.
The customers all put them back here when they are done with them. THEY WHAT? YES, the customers put them back. The store does not have to pay someone to go out into the parking lot and gather carts and put them away.
ALDI has a system that allows you to get a shopping cart out of the corral for a quarter. When you are done shopping, you put the cart back and get your quarter back.Such a simple concept. Who would have thought that everyone would go the extra steps to put the carts back for a mere 25 cents
Here is a close up view of the carts all chained together. When you insert a quarter into the slot of the last cart, it is released for your shopping trip. When you are done, you bring your cart back to the corral, insert the key from the other cart and your quarter is returned to you. In essence, a FREE cart. But the whole program of requiring a quarter to use a cart has kept all of the carts out of the parking lot at no expense to ALDI.
There is a poster on the wall for first time shoppers explaining this simple process.
Imagine if more stores utilized this unique concept. You wouldn't have to go looking for a cart. You wouldn't have shopping carts in the parking lot as obstacles to drive around or to roll into your vehicle. The savings could be passed on to the consumers.
Why don't more stores do this?
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