Striving for Customer Benefit: The Case of Aldi

Aldi opened one of its first hard discount grocery stores in Germany in 1962. During the same year, Sam Walton inaugurated his first Wal-Mart in the United States. In spite of similarities, such as the attention towards low prices, the two companies were about to follow quite different strategies: w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBusiness Model Pioneers pp. 11 - 24
Main Authors Voigt, Kai-Ingo, Buliga, Oana, Michl, Kathrin
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing
SeriesManagement for Professionals
Subjects
Business Model
Family Business
Price Leadership
Private Label
Retail Industry
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Aldi opened one of its first hard discount grocery stores in Germany in 1962. During the same year, Sam Walton inaugurated his first Wal-Mart in the United States. In spite of similarities, such as the attention towards low prices, the two companies were about to follow quite different strategies: while Wal-Mart focused on opening stores in rural communities and small towns, tapping into new markets as a sensible geographic expansion, Aldi much more thoroughly competed on price. The genuine discount business model did not start with Wal-Mart, but with Aldi—the latter being, beyond doubt, the pioneer among hard discounters in the retail industry. Hard discounters, also called limited-line stores, focus on selling a high volume of a limited and flat product range, concentrating on essentials and simplification, as well as on cost and price leadership.
ISBN:9783319388441
3319388444
ISSN:2192-8096
2192-810X
DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-38845-8_3