Good and Bad Buys at Lidl and Aldi stores (***Please don't expire***)

S_uk

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

mikb said:

S_uk said:

I noticed recently that my local Lidl store finally has those electronic shelf price labels, which I'm glad about as I've encountered quite a few mistakes in that store with price labels not being changed quickly.

Now you can experience the joy of the prices being changed TOO quickly -- between you seeing the shelf price and getting to the checkout

That is my concern of "live" pricing.
Select a product because it's been reduced but by the time get to check out price has increased.

Surely they would run an update overnight and before the store opens the next day to avoid this happening?

And even if they update it during the day, it still would've been a problem even if the labels had been changed manually by a human, so no disadvantage in that sense of doing an instant update, plus the benefits of lower costs which at the end of the day can only help in holding back price rises.

The separate issue of potentially using this technology to introduce 'surge pricing' by varying the prices according to demand however would IMO not be a good thing.

If prices are updated over night then it's not live pricing
Live pricing is also surge pricing.

I was replying to your specific concern that the disadvantage of the new system was that you could pay a price at the till that is different to that on the shelf, but that's a potentially a problem even if it's done manually using paper tickets by a member of staff, and has very much been a problem in my local store where there have been errors and tickets have not been changed for weeks.

HillStreetBlues

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

mikb said:

S_uk said:

I noticed recently that my local Lidl store finally has those electronic shelf price labels, which I'm glad about as I've encountered quite a few mistakes in that store with price labels not being changed quickly.

Now you can experience the joy of the prices being changed TOO quickly -- between you seeing the shelf price and getting to the checkout

That is my concern of "live" pricing.
Select a product because it's been reduced but by the time get to check out price has increased.

Surely they would run an update overnight and before the store opens the next day to avoid this happening?

And even if they update it during the day, it still would've been a problem even if the labels had been changed manually by a human, so no disadvantage in that sense of doing an instant update, plus the benefits of lower costs which at the end of the day can only help in holding back price rises.

The separate issue of potentially using this technology to introduce 'surge pricing' by varying the prices according to demand however would IMO not be a good thing.

If prices are updated over night then it's not live pricing
Live pricing is also surge pricing.

I was replying to your specific concern that the disadvantage of the new system was that you could pay a price at the till that is different to that on the shelf, but that's a potentially a problem even if it's done manually using paper tickets by a member of staff, and has very much been a problem in my local store where there have been errors and tickets have not been changed for weeks.

You misunderstood my post.
My concert is "live pricing" and about prices changing before getting to the till, currently this doesn't happen as all the live priced items have the price on the product. This will stop and only price will be on the shelf.
What you are talking about is not updating shelf prices that isn't live pricing, that's a totally different issue.

Rosa_Damascena

Does everything have to descend into a debate? Can we not stick to talking about what's worth buying and what isn't?

Cornucopia

On a "must have a treat" whim the other day, I bought Aldi 4x Chocolate Brownies - 99p.   

These were excellent - proper squishy Brownies with a slightly crunchy surface and chocolate chunks.   No idea how they preserve the squishiness in a pre-packed bakery product, but they were very nice.  

We're getting a new Aldi soon - looking forward to having a bigger store.  

S_uk

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

mikb said:

S_uk said:

I noticed recently that my local Lidl store finally has those electronic shelf price labels, which I'm glad about as I've encountered quite a few mistakes in that store with price labels not being changed quickly.

Now you can experience the joy of the prices being changed TOO quickly -- between you seeing the shelf price and getting to the checkout

That is my concern of "live" pricing.
Select a product because it's been reduced but by the time get to check out price has increased.

Surely they would run an update overnight and before the store opens the next day to avoid this happening?

And even if they update it during the day, it still would've been a problem even if the labels had been changed manually by a human, so no disadvantage in that sense of doing an instant update, plus the benefits of lower costs which at the end of the day can only help in holding back price rises.

The separate issue of potentially using this technology to introduce 'surge pricing' by varying the prices according to demand however would IMO not be a good thing.

If prices are updated over night then it's not live pricing
Live pricing is also surge pricing.

I was replying to your specific concern that the disadvantage of the new system was that you could pay a price at the till that is different to that on the shelf, but that's a potentially a problem even if it's done manually using paper tickets by a member of staff, and has very much been a problem in my local store where there have been errors and tickets have not been changed for weeks.

You misunderstood my post.

Probably because it wasn't/isn't very clear..

Anyway back on topic.

Eliza_2

Not sure if this is entirely on topic but I have a love/hate relationship with Aldi and Lidl.  I love Lidl's foreign food selections and their 'weeks' but hate the awful blue baskets on wheels where you have to bend so low to put things in or take them out at the tills.  (I'm not so young!) And the baskets are often dirty.  And at Aldi I love lots of their products and the middle aisles but hate the new style price labels on the freezers.  Is that just my Aldi?  They are below the front rim of the freezer so you have to bend right down to see them.  I asked why and the staff member didn't know but said they had all commented on how difficult they are to see. I thought maybe it was easier for wheelchair users so fair enough but I saw a lady in a motorised wheelchair who was struggling to bend right down - they're at about a 3 yr old's eye level - so not just me!

But they both do the peanut butter previously mentioned and it's wonderful.

Liz

Brie

@Eliza_2
I too hate the baskets on wheels.  For one thing people tend to drag them around behind them with no idea of who might be banged into.  Also being so low they are hard to see if, like me, you wear varifocals.  And the ones in the local lidls have alarms on them so you can't take them out of the store - so if you filled it up with heavy items you are expected to leave the basket at the till and carry all your ill gotten gains out to the car.  I got around this on one the rare times I used a basket and told the security person they'd need to come out to the car with me to ensure I didn't steal the basket unless they wanted to carry my groceries.  

I get that it's easier to put stuff in if you have 2 hands available unlike with the wire baskets you carry.  But for me I'll go for a proper trolley every time.

HillStreetBlues

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

S_uk said:

HillStreetBlues said:

mikb said:

S_uk said:

I noticed recently that my local Lidl store finally has those electronic shelf price labels, which I'm glad about as I've encountered quite a few mistakes in that store with price labels not being changed quickly.

Now you can experience the joy of the prices being changed TOO quickly -- between you seeing the shelf price and getting to the checkout

That is my concern of "live" pricing.
Select a product because it's been reduced but by the time get to check out price has increased.

Surely they would run an update overnight and before the store opens the next day to avoid this happening?

And even if they update it during the day, it still would've been a problem even if the labels had been changed manually by a human, so no disadvantage in that sense of doing an instant update, plus the benefits of lower costs which at the end of the day can only help in holding back price rises.

The separate issue of potentially using this technology to introduce 'surge pricing' by varying the prices according to demand however would IMO not be a good thing.

If prices are updated over night then it's not live pricing
Live pricing is also surge pricing.

I was replying to your specific concern that the disadvantage of the new system was that you could pay a price at the till that is different to that on the shelf, but that's a potentially a problem even if it's done manually using paper tickets by a member of staff, and has very much been a problem in my local store where there have been errors and tickets have not been changed for weeks.

You misunderstood my post.

Probably because it wasn't/isn't very clear..

Anyway back on topic.

I didn't think I needed to explain what live meant, but you're right, not everyone understand the concept when it comes to pricing, so I should have gave fuller details,
Lesson learnt, and as you say back to topic.
 

HillStreetBlues

Eliza_2 said:

Not sure if this is entirely on topic but I have a love/hate relationship with Aldi and Lidl.  I love Lidl's foreign food selections and their 'weeks' but hate the awful blue baskets on wheels where you have to bend so low to put things in or take them out at the tills.  (I'm not so young!) And the baskets are often dirty.  And at Aldi I love lots of their products and the middle aisles but hate the new style price labels on the freezers.  Is that just my Aldi?  They are below the front rim of the freezer so you have to bend right down to see them.  I asked why and the staff member didn't know but said they had all commented on how difficult they are to see. I thought maybe it was easier for wheelchair users so fair enough but I saw a lady in a motorised wheelchair who was struggling to bend right down - they're at about a 3 yr old's eye level - so not just me!

But they both do the peanut butter previously mentioned and it's wonderful.

Liz

I agree, thought that might have changed post Covid, but sadly not.

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

@Eliza_2
I too hate the baskets on wheels.  For one thing people tend to drag them around behind them with no idea of who might be banged into.  Also being so low they are hard to see if, like me, you wear varifocals.  And the ones in the local lidls have alarms on them so you can't take them out of the store - so if you filled it up with heavy items you are expected to leave the basket at the till and carry all your ill gotten gains out to the car.  I got around this on one the rare times I used a basket and told the security person they'd need to come out to the car with me to ensure I didn't steal the basket unless they wanted to carry my groceries.  

I get that it's easier to put stuff in if you have 2 hands available unlike with the wire baskets you carry.  But for me I'll go for a proper trolley every time.

I tend to pick up a small F&V box and fill it. That way I know that I will be able to carry it back home without too much difficulty! 

Lidl has not had Victoria sponge in for ages - its all Belgian chocolate or carrot cake. I suppose the others are thought to be "summer" flavours. It should be doing my waistline a favour but instead I am buying the new jam and cream biscuits instead - which like all biscuits servings, rarely end with a single biscuit.