Secrets of an Aldi employee: Cashier reveals WHY they scan groceries so fast – and it helps you pay less at the checkout
- Aldi employee Brooke Hoskin has lifted the lid on working at the supermarket
- She revealed staff are timed on how quickly they scan groceries at the checkout
- There’s no minimum speed, but if consistently slow you could be reprimanded
- The German retailer employs a small number of staff to keep its prices low
- Less staff means workers receive higher wages and are likely to stay at the store
- Aldi is known to pay the highest graduate salary in Australia, starting at $87,000
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
An Aldi employee has revealed that checkout staff scan groceries at breakneck speed because they are being timed by store managers who constantly monitor their productivity.
Brooke Hoskin is a shop assistant at a Sydney branch of the German-owned discount supermarket chain, where she is responsible for stacking shelves, replenishing stock and taking payment at the till.
Still serving customers as an ‘essential worker’ during the coronavirus crisis, Ms Hoskin shared a TikTok video before her shift on Friday in which she revealed workers are timed on how quickly they scan items and move on to the next shopper.
While there is no minimum scanning speed, staff observed to be overly relaxed about their duties could be reprimanded and even lose their job, an unwelcome prospect given Aldi’s famously attractive pay packets.
The retail giant paid the highest graduate salary in Australia in 2018, with entry-level positions starting on $87,000 – more than the starting salaries of doctors, dentists, optometrists and engineers.
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Brooke Hoskin (pictured) is a shop assistant at a Sydney branch of German-owned discount supermarket chain Aldi
‘It’s not a major part of performance reviews, however if you’re consistently slow, managers might not be a big fan of that,’ Ms Hoskin said in the video.
Ms Hoskin said while scanning speed is not a ‘major part’ of performance reviews, staff who are consistently slow could be reprimanded by managers
The biggest reason for rapid scanning is to keep product prices and staff numbers as low as possible.
Employing less people means Aldi can maintain its famously cheap prices for customers.
It also allows the store to pay existing workers significantly higher wages than the accepted retail standard, which means employees are content and more likely to stay with the company.
In January 2018 Aldi advertised management positions for six-figure salaries between $101,000 and $155,000 with no retail experience required.
The Australian branch of the supermarket chain is known to offer one of the country’s highest graduate salaries, with entry-level positions paying $87,000 – more than any of the careers with the highest starting salaries in Australia.
Ms Hoskin and other Aldi staff ‘run a tight ship’ to maintain the supermarket’s famously low prices for customers
According to Graduate Careers Australia’s 2015 report, dentistry and optometry had median starting salaries of $80,000, followed by medicine on $65,000 and education on $61,000.
‘At Aldi, we run a tight ship, which means we have less staff with more tasks to complete,’ Ms Hoskin said.
The faster employees can process customers in and out of the store, the faster they can move on to their next task, which allows the chain to keep staff costs low by reducing the need to hire additional casual workers.
Ms Hoskin said employing less staff allows the store to pay existing workers significantly higher wages than the accepted retail standard; Aldi paid the highest graduate salary in Australia in 2018, with entry-level positions paying $87,000
‘We’re happier, and the company has better retention [rates],’ Ms Hoskin said.
Her video has been viewed more than 20,000 times and ‘liked’ by 2,500 people since it was posted on TikTok on Friday.
In reply to viewers’ comments, she confirmed cost-effectiveness is the reason that Aldi cashiers leave customers to pack their own shopping bags, unlike checkout staff at leading competitors like Coles and Woolworths.