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Have you noticed anything different about Aldi’s website lately? After months of development and tests “with a select group of customers” all across the country, it appears the new Aldi website is finally up and running — at least in a trial phase. (The yet-to-be retired site is still fully functioning, which leads us Aldi superfans to believe the new site is not quite ready for primetime yet.)
While the folks at Aldi are tinkering away with the final touches, we took it upon ourselves to poke around the new Aldi grocery website to scope out what we can expect come the official launch. Let’s get into it.
What You Should Know About Aldi’s New Website
1. The site is shoppable.
Rather than shop through a third-party retailer, like Instacart, you can now order groceries (and fall decor) for delivery or curbside pickup directly at Aldi’s site. You’ll need to sign up for an Aldi account to get started and, of course, make sure there’s a location that delivers to your zip code (or that you’re willing to travel to).
2. Every product has a price tag.
Honestly, this is a BIG deal. It’s nearly impossible to set up a budget if you don’t know how much things cost. Previously, we either had to diligently track grocery prices (and even then things can vary substantially from month to month) or visit an Aldi to see how much any particular product would ring up for (or search via Instacart). With the new site, every item — including the ones sans photos — comes with its own price tag, which means comparing prices and building a budget-friendly shopping list just got easier.
Note: While “prices online may vary from those in store,” we also found plenty of examples, like this fall-themed kettle corn, where the online and in-store prices matched.
3. The product photography is way more informative.
If you’ve been to Aldi’s site before, then you know product details are scarce. The list of ingredients, nutrition information, allergens, certifications, and even what this cold smoked salmon looks like out of its packaging, for example, were nearly impossible to come by — that is, until now. Many of the products on the new site include images of the back of the packages where a lot of this information lives. (You can also zoom in to read the fine print, to an extent.) Some even show photos of the product au naturel, so you can get a clearer look at what’s underneath the lid.
A number of products still only include the front packaging (frozen chicken tenderloins) or are missing photos entirely (brown sugar bubble tea), but, again, this site is very much a WIP. We expect those will be updated before launch. If anyone from #TeamAldi is reading this, we’d also like to see the label info (ingredients, nutrition info, etc.) in text form, so it’s easier to skim.
4. It’s infinitely easier to search for products … but there’s still room for improvement.
Okay, let’s face facts: Aldi’s existing site is not the easiest to navigate if you’re, say, trying to find these generously frosted cinnamon rolls. As you’re probably aware, there is no search bar. Instead we’re left to hover over and click/scroll through several categories until we maybe (hopefully) see what we’re looking for. The new version not only has a search bar (where you can type in “cinnamon rolls,” hit “return,” and get served all the cinnamon rolls currently in stores), but it also has more shopper-friendly sorting capabilities, including price, alphabetical order, and brand (although these could use a little fine tuning). Is this novel? No. Are we psyched? You know it!
Have you tested out the new Aldi website? Tell us about it in the comments.
Mara Weinraub
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