Aldi is now selling actual shopping baskets to customers
Aldi has a knack for selling items we didn't even know we needed, but its latest product has some people confused.
The supermarket announced its new Shopbox product, a reusable and recyclable shopping basket to replace plastic shopping bags.
Aldi Shopbox as it appears on the Aldi website. Aldi
In theory, it's a great product and plenty of environmentally-savvy shoppers can see the benefits.
Shopboxes are stackable, can carry up to 15 kilos of grocery items, and even collapse flat when you're not using them. Plus, they're only $9.99 each.
The baskets make it easy to carry your shopping from the store to your car, then into your home according to the Aldi site.
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The basket allows shoppers to carry up to 15 kilos of products. Aldi
"That looks so great and so handy ... they'll sell out fast," one Aldi fan wrote on social media, another saying they are "loving the look of this."
But some shoppers are a little confused by the concept of buying a literal shopping basket, the kind almost every supermarket offers at the front of their stores.
Sure, you can't take those ones home with you, but the Shopbox seems like a bulkier replacement for other types of reusable shopping bags.
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Shoppers can take the baskets from the store to their cars, then into their homes. Aldi
"Selling?????? WTF, seriously they should be free like other supermarkets," one shopper vented on Facebook.
Another agreed, adding: "How about they just supply them like normal stores."
Aldi doesn't currently offer shopping baskets in stores, so customers who frequent the supermarket will probably get more use out of Shopboxes than Coles or Woolies regulars.
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One person claiming to be a former Aldi employee explained the policy, writing on Twitter: "We honestly just had no baskets because people kept stealing them and corporate found it just too expensive to constantly replace them.
"So selling them for shoppers to keep actually makes a lot of sense!"
Aldi's business model sees it minimise costs to keep prices low, explaining why they may choose not to provide baskets in store.
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