Shoppers have just realized why there's a huge barcode across Aldi products.
The German supermarket chain is known for its large, triangular barcodes printed everywhere.
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Aldi fans regularly turn to social media site Reddit to try to understand the design.
One Aldi shopper who shared a photo of her cereal box wrote: “Have there always been this many barcodes on Aldi cornflakes?!”
Fans took to the comments section to share their theories.
“The long barcode made me cry, and it's not even funny,” one person wrote.
Another person said: “This is common with most Aldi products. Makes it easy to scan quickly.”
While a third person said: “It's not uncommon for Aldi packaged products to have 4 or 5 barcodes. It's all part of their efficient process engineering.”
Now an Aldi spokesperson has revealed the truth – and it's what everyone already knows.
Speaking to Nexstar Media Group, the spokesperson said: “Despite the small details, we designed our barcodes to ensure products can be scanned quickly from almost any angle, whether by employees or customers using self-checkout.
“By making our barcodes larger, and including several of them on our packaging, we help reduce the amount of time shoppers have to look up barcodes, which means they can get in and out [get] Back to life outside the grocery store.”
So there you have it – these extra large barcodes are designed to be super efficient and to help you get in and out of the grocery store.
Meanwhile, Aldi shoppers have spotted a barcode sticker on the back of some goods, and it could indicate lower prices.
The orange label was recently spotted covering the UPC barcode on the back of an item at the retailer.
“What does this sticker mean?” Aldi shopper Ty Avera questioned in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Avera has included an image of the orange label visible on the barcode of the container of mixed nuts.
Many customers responded with answers about the purpose of Aldi's orange sticker, but nothing was definitive.
Some claimed that employees told them that the orange sticker meant the item was on sale.
“We came across this yesterday! We were asked! It's discounted,” one Aldi shopper responded.
“Has he been tagged?” Another suspected.
Sign of turmoil
A few others disagreed, pointing out that the orange sticker was likely there to cover the barcode and indicate an error, or the cashier should have issued it differently.
“A lot of stores mark down items that are close to their sell-by date by date. So that orange sticker might mean manually entering the price instead of scanning it because it's above a barcode,” one person commented.
“It's intended to hide the UPC code. It may have been printed incorrectly,” another echoed.
As an alleged Aldi employee wrote: “Just a typo in the barcode.”
Aldi policies
Aldi has several store policies that customers should remain aware of. The US Sun has compiled a short list for shoppers' next trip to their local store.
- Customers pay a quarter for the cart and can get the coin back once they return it to the correct place.
- There are no packers, and customers usually bag up their groceries or cashiers provide assistance.
- Aldi is putting products in the aisles in the same packaging they were shipped in by vendors to save customers money.
- Full refunds and exchanges are offered through Aldi's Twice as Nice policy on all Aldi branded items with which customers are not satisfied.
- Plastic bags are not sold in any Aldi store.
- Paper and reusable bags are offered to customers.
