Aldi: Almost nobody knows this ingenious trick - did you know?
Created: 05/20/2022Updated: 05/20/2022, 16:38
By: Raffaela Maas
Countless customers have already walked over it: the gray, nondescript carpet at the entrance to Aldi.
It has an ingenious, secret function.
Munich - Every business uses different measures to protect itself from shoplifting: Sometimes it's shop detectives, sometimes video cameras.
Quite different from Aldi.
The discounter giant relies on a secret function at the entrance to each branch to prevent theft - and almost no customer knows this ingenious trick.
Aldi carpet has a secret function
Most customers are probably familiar with the gray carpet at the entrance to every Aldi branch, although they have probably never paid much attention to it.
Surprisingly, the unassuming rug has an important function for the store.
As
Chip.de
reports, the floor covering consists of grooves.
These activate and deactivate the immobilizer that Aldi has implemented in its shopping trolleys.
The floor covering should therefore protect against theft, since the immobilizer engages when leaving the store and blocks the wheels on the car.
Aldi: This is how the discounter protects itself from theft
According to
Chip.de
, the Aldi site is surrounded by several magnetic strips that are located directly on the street border between the Aldi site and the sidewalk.
As soon as someone leaves the demarcated area with the shopping trolley, the wheels lock.
The immobilizer turns the car into a bulky obstacle.
In order to continue driving, you would have to carry the car, because pushing it is hardly possible.
A woman walks into an Aldi store with a shopping cart.
© imago/ Wassilis Aswestopoulos
Anti-theft protection when shopping: Aldi Süd explains various systems
But there is not just one system for theft protection, Aldi Süd explains to HEIDELBERG24: "Basically, our branches can use shopping trolleys with different immobilizers." In addition to the immobilizer, there is another variant that restricts freedom even more.
"Use is decided individually for the individual ALDI SÜD branches in order to be able to optimally adapt to the given conditions on site," says Aldi Süd.
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“Another anti-theft variant prevents shopping trolleys from leaving the branch through the branch entrance,” reveals Aldi Süd.
So if a shopping trolley leaves the store in the wrong direction, the wheels are automatically blocked.
To cancel the unlocking, you only have to drive over the carpet again in the limited area or ask an employee for help.
How much does an Aldi, Lidl and Co. shopping cart cost?
Around 100,000 shopping trolleys are probably stolen in Germany every year.
A big loss for Aldi and Co., as Aldi Süd explains when asked by
HEIDELBERG24
: "The acquisition costs for shopping trolleys are very high and we would like to make them available to our customers in sufficient quantities.
That's why we try to keep losses from theft as limited as possible.” According to
Chip.de
, discounters and supermarkets pay between 40 and 150 euros per car.
There are also costs for maintenance and cleaning, which depend on the type of cleaning, number, travel and duration.
An Aldi customer recently discovered a seemingly absurd note on the shopping cart.
In truth, however, the reference was apparently justified.
(rrm)