Opinion: Aldi and Lidl still try customers' patience

News that Aldi could bring its UK store total to 2,600 branches at an indeterminate point in the future must surely come as good news for those who like to buy their staples (and some goodies as well) at ‘sensible’ prices.

Yes, along with Lidl, the commonplace that shoppers can save themselves pound after pound whenever they visit a discounter means a future where we all pay less for more.

That’s the theory at least, but recent visits to an Aldi and a Lidl (both in Wiltshire and both relatively close to each other) reveal something of a flaw in this golden picture.

“Long queues form at each, and when the shopper does make it to the front of the line, the products are hurled at them; they then panic in the effort of keeping pace with the cashier while bagging everything”

The deal remains very simple. The Lidl store in Gillingham has had a makeover along the lines of the retailer’s ‘store of the future’ in Tooting, and it does look good, until the time comes to pay.

There are a good number of checkouts, but even when the store is busy, it seems they are never all open.

Instead, long queues form at each, and when the shopper does make it to the front of the line, the products are hurled at them; they then panic in the effort of keeping pace with the cashier while bagging everything.

There are no self-checkouts, so it is also the case that there are always going to be those waiting who feel resentful that they are behind the shopper with a full trolley.

Little effort is made to accommodate the fact that they may be buying just a couple of items.

Bad times

This is, in short, an exercise in frustration, and all of the good work that has been done in the new, shiny store is undone at the end of the shopping journey.

The Aldi that is located closest to Stonehenge is a little more stripped-back and basic than the Gillingham Lidl, but the outcome is more or less the same.

All of which is fine if you have time on your hands and the patience of Job.

But most people do not, and the discount grocery experience boils down to a simple trade-off of time for money.

At a moment when shoppers everywhere seem to want to have everything instantly, delays of this kind look increasingly old-fashioned.

An Aldi (and probably a Lidl) store on every corner may seem like a good thing for consumers, but a time-price has to be paid, and perhaps something other than long lines at the checkouts might improve matters.