ALDI shoppers have revealed a convenient shopping cart trick that allows you to get around a dreaded requirement.
The retailer uses a quarter system to allow you to use the carts, but there is an alternative object you can use to unlock them.
Carrying cash is becoming less and less common today, and carrying coins even less so.
This can make it difficult when needing to unlock an Aldi shopping cart.
The system requires you to insert a quarter which you get back when you return the cart.
But shoppers have revealed a way around this pesky necessity, by using trolley tokens.
Trolley tokens are small aluminum slugs that are the exact size of a quarter.
You can often buy trolley tokens fit to a key chain, making them easier to keep handy.
Trolley tokens can also be bought inexpensively and in packs of multiples.
TROLLEY TOKEN TIPS
There are challenges to using trolley tokens in the same way there are challenges to using coins for the carts.
This mainly comes from the common ways that Aldi uses its carts, and it may make it less convenient to naturally whip out a trolley token.
It’s common for Aldi customers to offer their carts to those coming in while they’re leaving, and is seen as polite to offer one.
You may not have one if you habitually use a cart token.
On top of that, Aldi checkouts tend to operate on a system where you retrieve the cart from whoever is in front of you.
This could be a problem if you have a key chain attached to your cart.
In situations like these, it is worth telling the cashier that you need your own cart back.
How many Aldi stores are there in the US?
AS of May 12, 2025, there are 2,510 Aldi stores operating across 41 states and territories in the United States.
Florida leads with 244 locations, followed by Illinois (215), Ohio (170).
In 2025, the company plans to open 225 new stores.
ALDI SAVES THE DAY
Despite the troubles that can arise with shopping carts, many credit Aldi with solving a problem with them that Kroger fans have complained about.
One Kroger shopper revealed that the carts there now come with sensors to prohibit people stealing them.
Many piped up on social media to slam this as an annoying addition.
One person said online: “They are annoying because they never work in the parking lot, had to lift the front wheels off the ground to get the cart to the car.”
And another wrote: “Sometimes are faulty. I emptied my paid-for groceries into my vehicle and then the cart locked up.
“I could drag the damned cart far enough to drive away, only to be berated by a nasty old lady for not pushing the locked-up cart to the cart corral.”
In this case, Aldi‘s quarter system has been praised as the more efficient solution, as it does not lock the carts.
One of the main benefits of having non-lock shopping carts is that it reduces the amount of stray shopping carts that staff need to collect.
Trolley tokens are small aluminum slugs that are the exact size of a quarter[/caption]
