• Aldi will spend more than $1 billion over the next five years to overhaul its Australian operations.
• The supermarket chain will open new small-format layouts called ‘Corner Stores’ and roll out its first self-checkouts as part of a modernisation effort.
• It will halve the number of distribution centres with larger high-tech versions, using robots to replace workers.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Aldi is reevaluating its Australian presence as it looks to overhaul stores and grow its 12% market share, with a $1.3 billion war chest.

The German supermarket giant, which rings up more than $10.5 billion worth of sales in Australia every year, unveiled its five year plan for the local market on Wednesday.

As part of the new strategy, Aldi will begin opening a new small-format store, called ‘Corner Stores’, in capital cities.

With the first opening in North Sydney on Wednesday, the “reimagined” stores will stock pre-prepared meals and boast its own bakery section. Operating under extended trading hours, and equipped with a self-checkout, the layout design looks to “maximise efficiency”, according to a statement from Aldi.

It also revealed it would expand its online store, after it begun selling exclusive large goods such as fridges online during the pandemic, potentially canvassing groceries and alcohol as well.

Self-checkouts will be rolled out to ten of its New South Wales stores as part of an initial trial, before potentially introducing them nationwide.

While it comes several years behind rivals Woolworths and Coles, which control around 60% of the market, ALDI Australia CEO Tom Daunt said the slow and steady approach is indicative of its patient approach, with the supermarket unwilling to adopt the “latest fads” for the sake of it.

“Having watched the market and evaluated which technological advancements provide cost-saving and which customers also respond to favourably, we’ve strategically set on a path to modernise our business,” Daunt said.

“For twenty years we’ve been operating in Australia to the beat of our own unique drum and that’s not going to change. As we embark on a range of significant projects to sustain our growth, we remain committed to building a business that is good for our employees, good for our business partners and good for our customers.”

Powered entirely by renewable energy, Aldi said it remains on track to achieve zero food waste by 2025, and would cut its plastic use by 25%.

Behind the scenes, Daunt said the supermarket would also transform its distribution strategy, abandoning its six current supply centres in the eastern states.

Aldi said in five years it would have just one large high-tech centre centre operating in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland respectively.

With robots to automate the packing process, the supermarket said it would look to retrain affected staff, with redundancies remaining a “last resort”.

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