If you've never shopped at Aldi before, there's one small detail that can catch you completely off guard: you need a quarter to use a shopping cart. At most supermarkets, you simply grab a cart and start shopping, but Aldi does things a little differently.
Technically, Aldi isn't charging you 25 cents to use the cart. The quarter is a refundable deposit, and you get it back as soon as you return the cart after you finish shopping.
Aldi carts are connected together near the entrance, and shoppers insert a quarter into the locking mechanism to release one. Once you finish shopping and reconnect your cart, the quarter pops back out.
So that quarter isn't actually adding anything to your grocery bill. As long as you return the cart, you've essentially borrowed it for free.
The quarter system might seem strange until you understand why Aldi uses it. Instead of paying employees to spend time gathering abandoned carts from around the parking lot, the refundable deposit gives shoppers an incentive to return carts themselves.
That lets employees focus on other jobs inside the store while Aldi handles fewer labor-intensive tasks. According to Aldi, those operational savings help the company keep prices low.
There's another benefit that anyone who has watched a runaway shopping cart roll toward their car can appreciate. When shoppers have a reason to return their carts, fewer are left scattered throughout the parking lot.
A quarter isn't much money, but apparently it's enough motivation to walk those extra few feet. And because everyone wants their quarter back, the system largely takes care of itself.
For longtime Aldi shoppers, keeping a designated "Aldi quarter" in the car has practically become part of the shopping routine. Some shoppers even hand their cart directly to someone arriving rather than returning it and taking their quarter back.
It's a small Aldi tradition that can be confusing the first time you encounter it. Once you know how the system works, though, it's pretty simple.
Calling it a cart "fee" can be somewhat misleading because Aldi isn't keeping your money. Think of the quarter more like collateral: return what you borrowed and you get your money right back.
That distinction is important. Aldi isn't trying to make money from quarters; it uses the quarter to get shoppers to do something that would otherwise require additional employee time.