Aldi has followed developments in e-commerce closely for more than ten years, but it refrained from seriously entering the online food business for fear of affecting the brick & mortar stores. Now, there are signs that it is finally preparing for entry into e-food in Germany. Aldi Nord and Süd have founded a joint e-commerce operating company to bring together their previously divided online service “Aldi liefert” under one roof.
The new headquarters are located in Düsseldorf and are actively on the look for personnel. The purpose of the newly founded joint venture is online trading, “especially with groceries and everyday items.” Some of Aldi’s subsidiaries abroad have already taken steps towards online. In Ireland and the UK, Aldi launched a click-and-collect trial in several stores. The service was hugely popular, and the retailer has extended the click-and-collect service to several hundreds of new stores.