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Avid Aldi fans always know to bring a quarter
to get a cart at the store. That quarter lets

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you unlock a cart, and you'll get the coin
returned to you once you put the cart back

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Pretty simple, right? In the past, Aldi has
even encouraged their shoppers to leave their

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quarters in the cart as a random act of kindness.
In an Instagram post, the chain further engaged

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their customer base by asking what they do
with their returned 25 cents. Based on the

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comments, it seems that many not only pass
their quarters on to the next Aldi shopper

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but some people will give the cart directly
to a person going into the store as well

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One user also suggested an even greater way to
pay it forward by sticking a few more quarters

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in other carts. When you go to most grocery store chains,
you don't need to bring extra money for a shopping

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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

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their prices so low? And it turns out, the
shopping cart quarter is part of this strategy

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Understandably, this is a question the
chain gets asked a lot, and as such

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they've provided a pretty reasonable
answer on their FAQ page. Aldi explains

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This 25-cent deposit ultimately saves our
customers money because we don't have to hire

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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

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place. So although it might be frustrating
for anyone who forgets a quarter at home

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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

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have such a large staff, so this is
one of the ways they keep it down.'

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And although most other stores in the U.S.
don't make you pay a deposit for your shopping

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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

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such as Aldi. Many grocery stores in that country require
a 50-cent or one euro coin to unlock shopping carts

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And like Aldi's policy, once you return
the cart, you get your money back

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This system ensures carts are always brought
back to where they're supposed to be, rather

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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

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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

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Aldi employees want you to know. Don't ask for loans
from staff and definitely don't take employee cards