Yes, Aldi Cashiers Always Sit Down At The Register. Here's Why

Pop into your local Aldi and you'll see a lot of things: affordable store-brand snacks that will make you forget about the name brands; hesitate-and-you'll-miss-them Aldi Finds in the middle aisles; and its cashiers actually seated at the registers. It's not a sight that's common in most other grocery stores, where cashiers are expected to stand for the duration of their shift. But Aldi has a good reason for allowing its workers at the registers to take a load off — it actually helps them scan faster.

In what has become a running joke on social media, Aldi cashiers are known for their quick scanning (you're not alone if you can barely keep up with putting items on the conveyor belt). In fact, employees are even timed and given something akin to performance reviews at the end of each shift, which detail how many items they scanned that day. And Aldi realized, after running some tests, that sitting allows cashiers to get a bit of rest while channeling all their energy into ringing up items as quickly as possible (the multiple barcodes also help — they're part of the reason it's easier to scan products at Aldi than other stores). We think it also helps make up for the otherwise physically exhausting nature of the job.

A lot of our typical grocery store behaviors might actually slow down the cashiers at Aldi. But no more. Now is the time for you to help these seated cashiers stay fast and accurate — and get the very best performance review of their lives. It all starts with grabbing a cart every time you intend to go through a checkout lane helmed by an employee (versus the self-checkouts), no matter how few items you plan to buy. The reason is that, at Aldi, your delicious (and affordable) groceries go in the cart of the person in front of you. And while you'll benefit from the cart left by the person who came before you, if you don't have a cart for the next person in line, the cashier has to wrangle one up — which costs them time.

Also, don't try to start bagging your groceries while the cashier is still ringing them up. Chances are good they'll finish before you, and then have to wait for you to notice, pull your money out, and pay (whereas you might have already had your card in the reader). Just use the bagging area like everyone else. Finally, if you're a yapper, try to limit small talk with the person ringing up your groceries. While their seated position might look perfect for a chat, their goal is to get you checked out in as little time as possible — and you're directly hindering that objective.