This Is Why Aldi Cashiers Are Incredibly Quick At Their Job

The uber-efficient German grocery store chain celebrated for its low prices, Aldi, is well known for their fast cashiers. Aldi allows their cashiers to sit down, not for employee comfort, but because the company has data showing that the employees scan items faster while seated. Sitting keeps employees fresh, and they can scan more items with fewer movements. Giving cashiers a chair is only a part of how Aldi keeps a high pace in the checkout line, however. Their little-known technique for speeding up the experience that can be considered problematic is a classic case of corporate micromanagement.

Every cashier is timed and then scored on each checkout as well as their time between customers. If you slow them down at all by forgetting your ID, not having your credit card already out, or talking on the phone, that lowers their score. Don't try to chat with the cashier, either. Some people find them rude, but niceties like chatting with the customers can ruin their metrics. As one Aldi employee says on the Aldi employee subreddit, "The customer will slow you down if you allow them to. Train your customers!" If this is too stressful for you, you may be out of luck as Aldi just recently started pulling out their self-checkout lanes at certain locations.

Aldi can be notorious for having a long line waiting to checkout with only one cashier. This is often due to their tendency to understaff to keep costs down. Thanks to the cashier's speed, however, these long lines tend to move fast! If the line gets to be unmanageable for just one employee, however, most stores will have another employee hop on another register to keep the wait from getting too long. Given that many stores will get by with just three to five employees, it can be difficult to pull someone away from another task to ring up more customers.

If there's no line to checkout and no customer currently checking out don't be surprised to find the register with no cashier. Employees at Aldi work all the different jobs, there's no specialization. Once the line to checkout is cleared you can expect to see that employee get to work stocking shelves or cleaning an aisle. Among other scandals, Aldi was once accused of spying on its employees, perhaps to ensure their productivity.