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Germany: Aldi is giving up its online shop

Updated: Apr 14

Discount Retail Chains Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord operated together as part of a joint venture in the online shop. But the joint online shop is to come to an end this year. On September 30, Aldi will end its previous online offer. Only four years after launch.


A spokeswoman stated that Aldi wants to focus on its core area in the future, i.e. the stationary trade in food. In the online shop, on the other hand, there were mainly non-food items to buy. Be it the hot air fryer, the bicycle, the computer or even tools.

There were only a few overlaps with the goods from the stationary stores: Aldi also sold some drugstore items, coffee products, pet food or wine online.


But this will soon come to an end, the business has proven to be difficult for the retailers. According to information from the "Lebensmittelzeitung", Aldi's online business was not profitable on balance. The strong international competition would have required continuously high investments, which Aldi would have to earn in the store business in the north and south. According to the industry newspaper, around 80 employees are affected by the closure, who will lose their jobs by the end of the year at the latest.


Aldi is not the first German discounter to take its online shop offline again. The business operations of the discounter Penny online shop (owned by REWE) were already discontinued at the beginning of 2022. Other competitors, on the other hand, continue to rely on the online business: Lidl has been running its digital shop since 2008, discount Netto (owned by EDEKA) followed suit in 2013. The range of online discounters is similar: mainly non-food products are offered, but often also wines and spirits.


The competition in online retail is immense: According to the online monitor of the German Retail Association (HDE), Amazon alone has a total market share of around 60 percent. Aldi's strength clearly lies in brick-and-mortar retail: In the 2023 financial year, Aldi Süd and Nord together generated around 112 billion euros in sales worldwide.


Aldi even recorded the largest growth abroad. Aldi Süd in particular has recently opened numerous new locations in countries such as the USA and Great Britain and announced further expansion steps. Last year, for example, Aldi wanted to hire 13,000 new employees in the USA.


Customers can still place orders in the Aldi online shop until September 30. However, they should be informed about the closure in good time beforehand via newsletter and notice on the website, it said in a statement.


However, the apps and websites of the two discounters will continue to exist. There, consumers can find recipes or current offers for food that are available in stationary Aldi stores. In the future, customers will also be able to continue to buy products from the non-food sector there.




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