Special Buys vs. Aldi Finds — What’s the Difference?

Last Updated on July 26, 2020

Special Buy versus ALDI Find

Aldi is different from other grocers in a lot of ways, and one of them is the distinct lingo the site uses. “Weekly Fresh Meat Specials” and “Produce Picks” are two notable examples.

But chances are, if you live in the United States and you’ve been paying close attention, you’ve seen a recent addition to the Aldi lingo lineup.

Aldi Finds.

So what are these? And how are they similar to, or different from, Special Buys?

To answer, a brief recap: Aldi has two kinds of inventory they carry in its store. Most of that inventory is permanent, staying the same from week to week. Some of that inventory, meanwhile, is rotating, which means it’s in for a while, and when it’s gone, it’s gone until it rotates back in, sometimes not until the next year, if ever.

We call the permanent stuff Regular Buys.

Now, for a long time, Aldi called the rotating stuff Special Buys. And in other places, it still does. Aldi Australia, for example, still uses Special Buys, while Aldi UK and Aldi Ireland use the slightly trendier Specialbuys.

Aldi US’s marketing department apparently decided to go a different direction. At some recent point, it renamed its rotating lineup from Special Buys to Aldi Finds. (Aldi stylizes it in all caps, as “ALDI Finds.”)

This creates a bit of a dilemma for us at Aldi Reviewer. Which to use? The answer is not that simple: we are a U.S.-based website and most of our traffic is from the United States, but about 20% of our traffic comes from outside the States, particularly the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Germany. Some Aldi’s products are international, after all; Bauhn, for example, which provides electronics for Aldi US, is an Australian company.

On top of that, a lot of American shoppers–especially long-time shoppers–may not be fully aware of Aldi US’s new language. It’s printed at the top of each ad, but people may gloss over it, and Aldi hasn’t exactly gone on a marketing blitz to educate people on the new term. It was such a quiet rollout that we’re not even sure when it started. That means that there may be some Americans who may be a little confused if we use Aldi Find instead of Special Buy.

At this point, then, our approach is to be bilingual. When possible, we use the terms together, usually with one of them in parentheses. That will most often look like this: Special Buy (Aldi Find). We’ve also adjusted our category tag to reflect that.

At least until the marketing department comes up with something new.

About Joshua

Joshua is the Co-founder of Aldi Reviewer. He is also a writer and novelist. You can learn more about him at joshuaajohnston.com.

4 Comments

  1. Hi Joshua
    I’m trying to find where to buy replacement parts for my Workzone electric screwdriver 4V Li-Ion
    Do you know where I could find them ?
    Thanks
    John

  2. How can I buy bulk canola oil for retail prices

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