Avid Aldi fans always know to bring a quarter to get a cart at the store. That quarter lets
you unlock a cart, and you'll get the coin returned to you once you put the cart back
Pretty simple, right? In the past, Aldi has even encouraged their shoppers to leave their
quarters in the cart as a random act of kindness. In an Instagram post, the chain further engaged
their customer base by asking what they do with their returned 25 cents. Based on the
comments, it seems that many not only pass their quarters on to the next Aldi shopper
but some people will give the cart directly to a person going into the store as well
One user also suggested an even greater way to pay it forward by sticking a few more quarters
in other carts. When you go to most grocery store chains, you don't need to bring extra money for a shopping
cart, so why is this the case at Aldi? Well, there are a number of things that Aldi does differently from other stores to keep
their prices so low? And it turns out, the shopping cart quarter is part of this strategy
Understandably, this is a question the chain gets asked a lot, and as such
they've provided a pretty reasonable answer on their FAQ page. Aldi explains
This 25-cent deposit ultimately saves our customers money because we don't have to hire
extra staff to collect grocery carts To unlock a cart customers have to insert a quarter and this deposit ensures shoppers return their cart to the corral to get their quarter back Though low pricing is one very big reason why Aldi has such a big fan base in the first
place. So although it might be frustrating for anyone who forgets a quarter at home
the policy ultimately saves you money over time. "'One of the things that makes Aldi the kind of low-cost store it is is that they do not
have such a large staff, so this is one of the ways they keep it down.'
And although most other stores in the U.S. don't make you pay a deposit for your shopping
cart, it's actually a common practice in many European companies. So it's not at all shocking that this system would be in place at a German-owned chain
such as Aldi. Many grocery stores in that country require a 50-cent or one euro coin to unlock shopping carts
And like Aldi's policy, once you return the cart, you get your money back
This system ensures carts are always brought back to where they're supposed to be, rather
than being left scattered around parking lots. Of course, once you've been shopping at Aldi for a while, you'll quickly get in the habit
of bringing spare change along with you. But if you do leave your quarter at home or just plan on grabbing a basket, here's what
Aldi employees want you to know. Don't ask for loans from staff and definitely don't take employee cards