Aldi Just Made Big Changes To Its Website And Shoppers Aren't Happy

Aldi shoppers who regularly rely on the Aldi Finds section on the brand's website and app are in for a surprise if they haven't seen it already. The popular grocery chain has made significant changes to its online user experience — and while it may benefit the corporate folks at Aldi, shoppers may not be as thrilled.

As seen on Aldi Reviewer on YouTube, the Upcoming Aldi Finds section, which shows upcoming Aldi products for the subsequent week, has a new layout launched in mid-December 2024.

Before this change, a user could go to the Aldi site or app, click on the menu or a tab, and get a listing of food, like its must-buy, award-winning bread, and non-food items, including clothing, kitchen tools, toys, etc. If you were to click on one of those, you'd land on a product page with a description and price (because different Aldi locations may have different prices). This was a great feature for the savvy shopper who wanted to learn before purchasing.

Now, when users click on the Upcoming Aldi Finds section, a link directs them to an Instacart-powered portal. That page leads to an unclickable grid of items that resemble a store-based printed circular. What's more, the list does not seem to include food items. The same goes for its This Week's Aldi Finds webpage. The items listed cannot be sorted, and the user is directed to the main portal for purchase, not further product details.

Aldi users are seemingly less than pleased with these changes. One user on the Aldi subreddit commented, "The new format is horrendous. I'd like to find whoever thought this was a good idea, and lecture them for an hour as to why it's not."

Many other grocers have an all-in-one portal where shoppers can buy items on the spot, so perhaps Aldi is also looking to streamline online and in-app purchases. Understood that the store wants the sale, but the user can no longer find item descriptions to conduct the research they used to, which isn't particularly helpful for the Aldi shopper.

Maybe this new Aldi portal is just a test run, as it has only been live for a couple of weeks. For Aldi shoppers who like to peruse before purchase, it may be the only way Aldi will keep its fans happy. Otherwise, it may lose shoppers, and its whole plan will backfire.