Free delivery & a simple UX could have the wine competition worried

Free delivery (for launch) is front and centre on the website, highlighted in a banner and one of the three carousel images. Next-day delivery is also available.

On top of this, the browsing and checkout process was remarkably quick and easy and I was immediately thinking about the impact Aldi could have on other online wine sellers.

Six bottle cases are (naturally) very competitively priced, with product pages listing the average price per bottle in each selection.

There’s a decent product description and customer reviews that include plenty of mentions of value for money.

Free delivery

aldi homepage

Next day and CollectPlus also available

aldi checkout

Aldi Specialbuys are a mixed bag but could snare multichannel customers

The listings for Aldi’s twice-weekly in-store Specialbuys are much improved.

Tellingly, most of these product listings have descriptions and Aldi is expected to allow online sales of these products in the spring.

Though I can’t immediately think of a product example where I would look to Aldi Specialbuys over Amazon (perhaps clothing), the multichannel aspect of browsing in-store and online is certainly in Aldi’s favour.

Aldi will hope its loyal customers will regularly browse the deals store online, when they can’t get to store quick enough to buy (especially now that Aldi runs TV advertising for some of its Specialbuys).

special buys

Guest checkout should smooth the journey of first-time buyers

The Aldi site doesn’t make you register at the checkout. In fact, it doesn’t let you register.

As you can see below, there isn’t even the option to register, merely to login if you’re an existing customer, or add an email address for guest checkout.

This guest checkout will hopefully increase conversion for Aldi (and presumably one can opt to set up an account after payment).

One thing to note is that the site advises fairly prominently that items in the shopping basket will only be held for 30 minutes, to ensure stock availability.

Whilst this is probably unavoidable, given the way Aldi buys stock, it could deter users who have done their research on smartphone, added to basket, then plan to pick up where they left off at home.

Guest checkout

no registration on aldi

I was very impressed by the grocery product listings…

I love the product listings on the Aldi site.

While browsing ‘all groceries’, popular items are displayed as default.

The top-most seem to be aspirational fruit and vegetables (avocados etc.), and I’m not sure how popular they are in terms of sales (compared to baked beans, for example), but they certainly justify their place here to win over the novice Aldi shopper who might be wondering if they can get eveything they need at the discount supermarket

That’s really what these product listings are about. To showcase the diversity and quality of the Aldi product range.

Once you select a category, the filtering is slick (allowing for price and rating), with the product previews themselves having large call-out pricing stickers.

aldi groceries

cheese aldi

..even if product descriptions are missing

Product images are big and bold, but product descriptions could be improved. Below is a typical example.

One sentence that’s been written by a bored copywriter is all we get (‘dinner time has never been simpler’).

However, Aldi may never sell groceries online and therefore perhaps adding descriptions isn’t a priority. What’s more important is clear imagery to tempt consumers to store.

aldi product page

product description aldi

There is plenty of content

Taste Kitchen, Aldi’s YouTube channel, is now also hosted on the Aldi website, alongside a number of recipes.

Though content marketing in this sector is difficult (Aldi’s YouTube views are fairly modest), this content is again about changing perceptions of Aldi produce, showing its high quality.

aldi taste kitchen

recipes aldi

The site is very nicely responsive

Despite what the outdated FAQ below says, the Aldi ecommerce experience works well on mobile.

Where the new site leaves the app (chiefly used to show deals) is unclear.

aldi faqs

How online grocery retailers are capitalising on the need for convenience