What Aldi Employees Really Think About Curbside Pickup

Curbside pickup can be a convenient choice for grocery shoppers on the run. But if you ask Aldi employees what they really think about curbside pickup, you'll likely hear it's a pain. For a service that became popularized and more widely available at many grocery stores during the pandemic as a way to reduce interactions between people in the store, much employee conversation around curbside pickup at Aldi asks the question: Should it still even be a thing?

While pick-up orders from many grocery chains are still a convenient option, on an organizational level, many employees at Aldi say that the process is anything but organized, noting its inefficiency and lack of profitability among the list of reasons they don't like it.

According to Aldi employees, a large part of the problem is the extra effort it takes to shop for multiple customers' groceries, often on tight timelines. Though it may vary by store and location, there doesn't seem to be a clear designated team for curbside pickup, so employees end up taking on the extra work. In many instances, this means dealing with confused or unhappy customers, rushing to fulfill last-minute orders, and navigating complicated logistics to give customers their groceries. "We don't get paid to play tetris with your bags, and we definitely do not have the time to either," one employee wrote on a r/Aldi_employees Reddit post about the inconveniences of the program.

On the aforementioned Reddit post, some Aldi employees say that curbside pickup should have just been used during pandemic times, citing that the program, due to its current inefficiencies, costs the stores money. How does a program as seemingly simple as driving up to the store to pick up your groceries become so complicated? It likely has ties to widespread understaffing in retail, less-than-ideal systems surrounding the process, as well as customer misunderstandings with how curbside pickup actually works (especially timing).

Aldi's curbside pickup (which has primarily been run through Instacart) states on the store's website to pick a date and time prior to placing your order and driving up to a designated parking spot to receive your groceries. However, unrealistic fulfillment times are common. Customers complain when items on the app don't match up with what's actually offered in the store. 

This all adds even more customer service work for employees dealing with curbside pickup, which begs the question if the program is all that efficient for anyone. On other Reddit posts by Aldi shoppers, many customers echo the employees' gripes about the drawbacks of curbside pickup, including canceled items, delays, and confusion over text. Further, placing pick-up orders with Aldi isn't that affordable, causing customer disappointment over extra online fees and item up-charges associated with curbside pickup. Still, some customers report positive experiences, indicating that the way the program is managed could potentially vary from store to store.