Source: blog.aldi.us
Aldi lets parents try before they buy new baby line
When it comes to products for babies, parents pay attention to quality, even if they’re on a budget. So they may need a bit of convincing when it comes to Aldi’s new line of private label baby goods. The budget grocer seems well aware of this, though, as they are giving parents the opportunity to try the products out in the field.
Aldi’s line of baby products, called Little Journey, is slated to hit store shelves in mid-August, according to Drug Store News. The Little Journey line will include infant formula, infant-to-toddler snacks (such as organic puree pouches) and changing essentials such as baby wipes and diapers.
The chain is promoting the Little Journey line with a campaign called the “Little Journey Mobile Tour.” The 12-date tour, slated to appear at street festivals throughout the country, consists of a traveling pop-up diaper changing station featuring free diapers and baby wipes. Among the destinations are a Generation X-targeted festival in Chicago called Retro on Roscoe which features a lineup of cover bands, as well as the Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival in Dallas.
When Aldi entered the U.S. market, the German retailer was known primarily for its low prices and stripped-down store design. But the chain has made recent moves to attract more upscale customers and the experiential marketing for the new baby products line seems in keeping with that.
Creating baby private label baby products — specifically diapers — that maintain a budget price point but still provide parents with the quality they need has already proven difficult for at least one of retail’s biggest names, Amazon.com.
Last year, Amazon had difficulty succeeding with the private label diapers in its Amazon Elements line and pulled product from virtual shelves after only two months. Earlier in 2016, there was speculation that Amazon intended to relaunch its private label diapers under a new label called Mama Bear. There has been no word on the return of Amazon’s diapers, though The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Amazon had quietly begun selling baby food under the Mama Bear label.
- ALDI has a special delivery for parents – Drugstore News
- Aldi’s evolution leads to credit cards – RetailWire
- Will an Amazon private label diaper prosper under a new name? – RetailWire
- Little Journey Mobile Tour – Aldi
- Amazon Begins Selling Perishable Private-Label Foods – The Wall Street Journal (sub. required)
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Will Aldi succeed in getting customers to trust and buy its baby products? Can a touring pop-up changing station successfully convert parents to using Little Journey products?
Poll
BrainTrust
Lee Kent
Principal, Your Retail Authority, LLC
Adrian Weidmann
Managing Director, StoreStream Metrics, LLC
Giving parents a chance to try before they buy is a smart move. A street festival with a changing station? Not so much. Can you imagine standing in line to change your baby alongside throngs of others and a band in the background? I can’t.
The bottom line: If the products have the quality and are well priced, this could be a winner for Aldi. That is where the rubber meets the road.
And that’s my 2 cents.
Try before you buy is always a good idea. I think new parents will especially appreciate this, but I question the street fair as the right venue. An in-store education session or better yet an VR online experience may be a more effective way to sample products.
Try before you buy is one of the most powerful marketing strategies in every product category, so it should work here too. I can imagine interested parents trying out the products (diapers) even if a “change” isn’t needed.
I guess trying a new diaper product at a public, promotional changing station is a decision no odder than taking an infant to a music festival. Perhaps sell baby ear protection while they’re at it. Try discount diapers? Sure, once. If they work, you have a customer for life. If not, it’s a one-time purchase.
Seems like a bit of a stretch to have baby changing stations at a street festival. But in terms of trying the product by getting it in the hands of parents, IF it is strong enough in terms of quality this could be a good move. On the other hand, if there is a high failure rate or the product simply isn’t any good, it could all be over when the band finishes playing.
Well, I’ve always thought that supermarkets need to do a better job on sampling their own brand products. So theoretically this is a good idea.
But Aldi is fooling themselves if they think they’re going upscale, although sure, plenty of people with money do shop there. But most don’t. Similarly, Walmart hasn’t had much success entering the DC market. They’ve been moving to cities because they’ve grown about as much as they can in the suburbs and exurbs and rural markets.
In DC at least, they haven’t been successful with higher income demographics, but have been with lower income demographics, although they didn’t buy enough for Walmart to follow through with their plans to oversaturate the city with six stores. Instead, they’re satisfied with the three stores they’ve already opened.
In short, while the promo effort is interesting, the audience at street festivals etc. is not likely to jibe with their customer base.
Then again, if the idea is to make inroads into the higher income demographics and 30s-40s year olds with kids who aren’t already shopping at Aldi, street festival presence will introduce them to new audiences.
Will they then go shop at Aldi? Maybe if the diapers are as cheap and as good as what they can buy at Costco.