The ALDI marketing strategies that unlocked its growth.
ALDI’s growth clearly came from 9 key factors. We’ve spotted and analyzed them below, so feel free to try the same strategies for your business.
Key Strategy #1: Omnichannel transformation
A strong, consistent omnichannel presence reduces friction along the customer journey, building and strengthening brand associations quickly. ALDI’s omnichannel strategy has been to meld its online and offline channels, investing in services like click-and-collect, letting a customer shop online and pick up their order from the store.
As a part of this effort, ALDI partnered with delivery services like Deliveroo and Instacart, which let shoppers who live far from its stores buy items as though they were physically present. Some of these services also let people access features such as click-and-collect, so they can customize their experience to best fit their needs and wants.
Key Strategy #2: Choosing the optimum target market
The grocery giant positions itself as the most cost-effective retail store to target the middle-income group worldwide. ALDI’s pricing strategy of maintaining the lowest possible prices and no-frills discounts encourages men and women in low and mid-level income groups and economical shoppers around the world to become regular customers.
To better cater to this market, ALDI continuously finds ways to reduce operational costs. For instance, it introduced a cart rental system. Shoppers would pay a quarter to unlock a cart from a corral at the front of the store, and they would get it back once they returned their cart. This added no charge to the customer but allowed ALDI to avoid hiring employees just to manage the carts.
Key Strategy #3: Creating an “As Is” map of the supply chain
ALDI maintains an “as is” map of its supply chain for some of its products to accurately pinpoint areas for expansion, as well as potential process breakdowns and risks. It also makes this information public on its website, letting its customers hold it accountable, which helps position ALDI as a transparent, trustworthy brand that values ethical product sourcing.
Key Strategy #4: Differentiation: The ‘Good Different’ new brand positioning
ALDI’s low prices make it stand out against all other major retailers. To raise consumer awareness about its uniqueness, ALDI’s marketing strategy in Australia incorporated new brand positioning, “Good Different,” which reinforced that the company’s low prices are a result of conscientious business practices — for instance, it sources products ethically and treats staff and suppliers with respect.
The “Good Different” campaign told customers that ALDI’s prices are better because the company is better, quelling any concerns over why it can charge so little.
Key Strategy #5: Social responsibility
ALDI understands the brand expectations that millennial and Gen-Z shoppers hold. They want a brand they support to take interest in its impact on the world. As a result, ALDI focuses on and constantly discusses its CSR efforts, such as sourcing all of its ALDI-exclusive chocolate bars and confectionery sustainably.
This focus also helps the brand build earned media, which is more influential than either paid or owned media. For instance, the EPA has ranked ALDI 15th on its Green Power Partnership’s “National Top 100 List” for its record-breaking green efforts. This ranking will attract more customers than ALDI Tweeting about its environmental awareness.
Key Strategy #6: Simple, cost-effective distribution
ALDI was able to open roughly one store every week in Britain, largely because its product distribution is uncomplicated. It purchases items in bulk and stores them in local warehouses, minimizing transit time and waste disposal while transporting goods.
Key Strategy #7: Ads promote USP
Though there is no ALDI marketing department in Germany, ALDI’s promotion strategy in the U.S., UK, and Australia, makes significant use of print, electronic, and display media to promote its stores. In these countries, it runs copies like “Swap and save” and “Like brands, only cheaper” to entice customers to switch from competitors’ brands to their own and build trust in its products.
Key Strategy #8: Simplified in-store layout
ALDI keeps its layout as simple as possible to drive down operational costs. Customers can generally find and pick out products on their own, reducing the number of employees necessary to assist them. ALDI’s marketing strategy also includes keeping only a limited amount of high-quality, name-brand products, so customers don’t have many options to confuse them, reducing their selection time.
Key Strategy #9: Engaging with followers
By engaging with its followers, ALDI can build brand loyalty. For instance, it has run a “Fan-Favorite Survey” since 2019, where fans can enroll in a lottery for up to $1,000 in ALDI gift cards by voting for their favorite ALDI product. This loyalty helps the brand activate its following, turning its fans into marketers by encouraging people to use its hashtags for its products, which helps it access people its efforts hadn’t reached previously.
Social media lets a brand reach a far wider pool of potential customers than any other tool. ALDI maintains a strong social media presence — boasting 2.8 million Facebook followers, 830,000 Instagram followers, and 106,000 Twitter followers at the time of writing — to get its brand in front of the internet-savvy section of its target audience.
Read the full ALDI marketing strategy here.