Aldi is one of the most successful retail chains in the world. It is well known for its
cheap prices and high quality. The company was founded in 1946 by the brothers Karl and Theo
Albrecht in Germany. The country was still devasted and the population was suffering from
World War II. Many people lived in poverty and only managed to buy daily needs on black
markets. However, Karl and Theo Albrecht realized the need of the citizens to provide their
families with bare essentials. So, they founded Aldi. Although the concept seemed to be simple,
it was highly innovative during this time. Everything that caused costs which seemed
unnecessary was cut. The stores were as plain as possible. With the high success and demand
plus the economic recovery of the country, Aldi made it become one of the most successful
retail stores in Germany. The expansion was driven throughout the world, from Europe to the
USA and lately also to China. In 2017, the annual revenue was around 29 billion Euro. For
years, Aldi, with its low prices and high quality, made it educate the customer to save money
for groceries and visit their stores instead of their competitors’ ones.

However, the exceptional story came to struggling times. The domestic satiation in retail
was reached, new expansion hardly made sense under Aldi’s very strict internal controlling
calculations. In contrast, the company even lost market shares, especially towards younger
customers. One reason was the changing conscious of German customers. Nowadays, Germany
is one of the wealthiest economies in the world. With this change in wealth, the desire for
changing the world for better came along. The customers do not look for the cheapest product
anymore but for example the most sustainable one. In addition, Aldi never used traditional
marketing channels, because it had been unnecessary costs which could have been avoided.

The following case study will analyze Aldi’s transition from a hard-discounter to a soft-discounter by implementing customer demands and changing its brand image by using
marketing tools to prevent their companies’ image from being outdated by their customers.

Aldi is one of the most successful retail chains in the world. It is well known for its
cheap prices and high quality. The company was founded in 1946 by the brothers Karl and Theo
Albrecht in Germany. The country was still devasted and the population was suffering from
World War II. Many people lived in poverty and only managed to buy daily needs on black
markets. However, Karl and Theo Albrecht realized the need of the citizens to provide their
families with bare essentials. So, they founded Aldi. Although the concept seemed to be simple,
it was highly innovative during this time. Everything that caused costs which seemed
unnecessary was cut. The stores were as plain as possible. With the high success and demand
plus the economic recovery of the country, Aldi made it become one of the most successful
retail stores in Germany. The expansion was driven throughout the world, from Europe to the
USA and lately also to China. In 2017, the annual revenue was around 29 billion Euro. For
years, Aldi, with its low prices and high quality, made it educate the customer to save money
for groceries and visit their stores instead of their competitors’ ones.

However, the exceptional story came to struggling times. The domestic satiation in retail
was reached, new expansion hardly made sense under Aldi’s very strict internal controlling
calculations. In contrast, the company even lost market shares, especially towards younger
customers. One reason was the changing conscious of German customers. Nowadays, Germany
is one of the wealthiest economies in the world. With this change in wealth, the desire for
changing the world for better came along. The customers do not look for the cheapest product
anymore but for example the most sustainable one. In addition, Aldi never used traditional
marketing channels, because it had been unnecessary costs which could have been avoided.

The following case study will analyze Aldi’s transition from a hard-discounter to a soft-discounter by implementing customer demands and changing its brand image by using
marketing tools to prevent their companies’ image from being outdated by their customers.

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