10-9.9=? In retail, this is not a math problem but a choice. The price band of 9.9 yuan and below is one thing, while 9.9 yuan and above is another, influencing the purchasing decisions of two consumer groups. Behind the explosive popularity of ALDI's 9.9 yuan private-label liquor, it has once again extended the price war to all categories. The author has learned that recently, ALDI has increased the number of products priced at 9.9 yuan or below to over 500, accounting for a quarter of the store's SKUs. This time, is ALDI truly becoming a "poor man's supermarket"?

Always New Low Prices SKUs at 9.9 Yuan or Below Account for Over 1/4 There is only lower, never lowest. This seemingly simple phrase carries extremely complex retail logic and best explains ALDI China's recent low-price strategy. "Always New Low Prices" is a slogan visible throughout its stores. The author noticed that in its new slogan, ALDI China positions its stores as "Shanghai's affordable community supermarkets." This differs somewhat from the previous "international quality, community prices": "Shanghai" emphasizes regional strategy, "affordable" focuses on low prices, and "community" highlights the store format.

Since the beginning of this year, ALDI has reduced prices on nearly 300 products cumulatively. Recently, it has intensified price cuts, with a new batch of discounted items covering fresh produce, beverages, household cleaning, and daily necessities, with maximum reductions of nearly 40%. To date, over 500 products are priced at 9.9 yuan or below, accounting for about a quarter of the store's total products.

The most notable product in the 9.9 yuan price band is the 52-proof strong-flavor liquor made from pure grains, which went viral this year. This liquor uses pure grains, traditional brewing techniques, and solid-state fermentation. Priced at 9.9 yuan, it has sparked skepticism among industry buyers but won consumer favor. The author understands that this product will be upgraded, with its quality standard rising from national standard first-grade to national standard premium-grade, optimizing taste, process, and flavor to better suit liquor enthusiasts. The bottle design will also be improved, using more cost-effective packaging materials to maintain the 9.9 yuan low price while upgrading quality.

Moreover, the 9.9 yuan price coverage will extend from alcoholic beverages to fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, bakery, dairy, daily chemicals, household cleaning, and leisure snacks. For example, Youbai zero-sugar original yogurt (100g*3 cups) uses fresh milk fermentation, no added sucrose, and ≥95% fresh milk content. Another example is URBAN EATERS Hong Kong-style iced lemon tea (1L), which uses Ceylon black tea as the base and three types of lemons: Sichuan Anyue yellow lemon, Guangdong seedless perfume lemon, and Vietnamese small green lemon, ensuring a refreshing sweet-and-sour taste. To develop this product, ALDI's procurement team went deep into Cantonese-speaking regions, referenced local fresh iced lemon tea practices, and underwent over three months of formula adjustments and nearly ten rounds of blind taste tests. The formula contains no added food flavors or chemical additives. Another example is ALDI facial cleanser (100g), which uses an amino acid formula, cleans gently, foams easily without drying, and contains squalane and sodium hyaluronate for moisturizing. These products are dual killers in terms of "price and quality."

Previously, the author wrote an analysis of why ALDI's 9.9 yuan liquor became popular, with the core being its vigorous development of private labels, removing intermediate premiums and maintaining low gross margins to present the most essential value of products directly to consumers.

From Affordable to Discount ALDI's Low-Price Playbook Although ALDI's "Always New Low Prices" does not explicitly mention the word "discount," the store is filled with a discount atmosphere. In today's decline of traditional supermarkets, those without the "discount" label are struggling, except for Pangdonglai, which has no yellow price tags, no promotional items, and even no paid endcaps in its stores.

Why is "discount" so popular? Weren't traditional supermarket promotions also discounts? To understand the popularity of discounts, one must first look at the decline of traditional supermarkets. The author believes that the decline of traditional supermarkets has gone through three stages:

The first stage was the rise of e-commerce and the internet, which took a share of traditional supermarkets' business. The higher the GMV of Taobao, Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo, and Douyin, the less traditional supermarkets get. This stage mainly involved "more" and "faster" from the "more, faster, better, cheaper" principle, with SKU counts changing from tens of thousands to millions, giving consumers more freedom of choice. Meanwhile, increasingly mature logistics systems shifted consumption from "in-store" to "at-home."

The second stage was the rise of specialized chain stores, which took another share. This is essentially category differentiation. This viewpoint was mentioned in many of the author's articles in 2015, analyzing which categories might differentiate. For example, the rise of convenience stores, liquor chains, cosmetics stores, fruit stores, snack stores, fresh community stores... Each specialized store's rise erodes a sub-category of hypermarkets. The higher their turnover, the less traditional supermarkets get.

The third stage is the rise of discount stores, which took the remaining share. The rise of discount stores is fatal. The first two stages were format competition, but discount stores, on the surface, are "price butchers," but in essence, they are "supply chain reshaping." "Discount" replaces inflated "promotions," making it revolutionary for both online and offline. Online, it's Pinduoduo; offline, there are many: Leerle, Haotemai, Haitigou, Zhekouniu, Biyide (now defunct), Aotele, Xunwushe, Tiaoma, Jinbaibai, and also fresh-focused Hema Outlets and Dingdong Outlets. The team is still growing. The hotter traditional supermarkets were, the hotter this format will be.

What is the essence? It's a reshaped retailer-supplier relationship, a reconstructed supply chain ecosystem, with fewer channel fees, faster settlement cycles, and more private labels. So what is ALDI's "Always New Low Prices"? It seems like a discount but isn't, seems like a promotion but isn't; it's a supply chain reconstruction.

As the originator of global discount supermarkets, ALDI has long implemented a "low-price" philosophy that makes "Always New Low Prices" possible. Since its founding over 100 years ago, ALDI has been committed to reducing its own operating costs, optimizing processes, and maximizing efficiency. At the same time, ALDI deeply integrates into local markets, building a strong supply chain system to further reduce costs and improve efficiency. For example, to save costs, it even intervenes in production and transportation processes, helping suppliers reduce costs and increase efficiency, thereby securing more price reduction space for consumers. ALDI is committed to exploring all possible price reduction spaces for consumers, even proactively creating conditions for price cuts to benefit consumers. The logic behind this is: by continuously and proactively passing on savings, consumers experience the charm of high-quality, low-priced products, which stimulates greater purchasing enthusiasm and drives sustained sales growth. In turn, increased sales enhance ALDI's economies of scale.

The "Poor Man's" Supermarket Returns Yu Donglai Praises It Multiple Times During this National Day holiday, Pangdonglai's founder Yu Donglai was not idle. Besides hosting internet celebrity Xin Ba, he also drove to Shanghai. After visiting ALDI, Yu Donglai remarked, "Feeling ALDI, every product is so quality, affordable, and warm... This is the beautiful supermarket person!" This short remark is the highest respect for products. He used three words: "quality, affordable, and warm." Quality and affordability are easy to understand—good and cheap—but the word "warm" brings products to life, showing the appeal of ALDI's products.

Earlier, Yu Donglai also remarked: "The supermarket industry has basically entered a dead end, mainly because the quality of products sold in most regions is poor, failing to meet customer trust and needs. This is a turning point for the retail industry. The only examples to learn from in China are Sam's Club, Costco, and ALDI. Pangdonglai is also firmly learning from them in product planning, high-quality standard development, and information technology development."

Originating in Essen, Germany, in 1913, ALDI is a globally renowned German retail enterprise. After over a century of development, it now operates over 10,000 stores in more than 10 countries and is a well-known and highly recognized retail brand internationally, pioneering affordable supermarkets and private labels. In the 2024 "Global Retail 50" list released by the National Retail Federation (NRF), ALDI ranked fourth, ahead of Costco, Carrefour, and Metro.

In 2017, ALDI entered mainland China via Tmall Global. After a two-year trial, its first pilot stores opened in Shanghai in June 2019. ALDI has continued to deepen its presence in the Chinese market, always committed to bringing consumers high-quality products with international quality and community prices. After more than five years of development, the number of stores in Shanghai has increased to over 50. According to data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), in 2022, ALDI's 32 stores generated total revenue of 750 million yuan, with an average daily sales of 64,000 yuan per store. Currently, ALDI China operates through both online and offline channels, including physical retail stores, its own mini-program, and third-party online platforms. The number of physical retail stores has increased to 59.

Finally, using the three words Yu Donglai used to affirm ALDI's products—quality, affordable, and warm—I hope the Chinese retail industry can also apply these three words to product selection in practice.