Aldi Australia is set to launch its first ever online store in Australia

Aldi Australia is set to launch its first ever online store offering the hugely popular Special Buys range so shoppers will no longer have to fight the huge crowds. 

Every Wednesday and Saturday mornings, the retailer offers one-off seasonal products that attracts long queues outside the stores before the doors even open.

But the move into online shopping will now offer customers a whole new way to shop without having to leave their house.

The online store will go live from Wednesday, May 26 for shoppers across New South Wales, Victoria and in Greater Metro regions of Queensland.

Offering big ticket items for a fraction of the price, a $499 memory foam mattress in a box will be available for purchase from May 26, followed by a $879 French door fridge, set to go on sale on Saturday, May 29.

‘We are constantly looking for ways to improve the experience for our customers and are very excited to be taking our first steps into e-commerce,’ Aldi Australia group director of customer interactions Simon Padovani said.

New items are expected to drop online at 8.30am every Wednesday and Saturday. 

‘We encourage customers to check our catalogue and website for exciting new online offers every week,’ Mr Padovani said. 

In April, the German supermarket chain teased shoppers after hinting at plans about launching an online store in Australia.

‘We are likely to start with something more exciting like wine or Special Buys online before we would entertain a full grocery offer,’ Aldi’s chief executive officer Tom Daunt told News Corp at the time.

‘Online in grocery is something we have been watching very closely for a long time, it is still a small part of the industry today but it is growing.’  

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia in April, an Aldi spokesperson said: ‘We understand Australian shoppers are always seeking convenience in their busy lives.

‘As our CEO Tom Daunt mentioned, it is inevitable that eCommerce will be part of our future.

‘Everything we do, we do with our “Good Different” approach to business, so as we look at how we bring this to Aldi shoppers, we’ll ensure this doesn’t compromise our ability to give customers exceptional value on high quality items.’ 

The chain’s Special Buys catalogues have long been a crowd favourite among shoppers, with one-off items released in stores twice a week. 

In August last year, it was revealed shoppers were paying strangers to wait in line at Aldi just to purchase Special Buys items on their behalf.

Customers have been finding ways to skip the queue by listing job advertisements on Airtasker in an effort to find someone else to fight the crowds for them.

One shopper, from Western Australia, paid a customer $20 after she successfully purchased an $80 Special Buy item for her.

The ad read: ‘Line up at Aldi tomorrow morning from 8am to try to secure a Special Buys item. I will need photo proof you are there and good communication throughout the transaction.

‘I need the $80 item bought with your cash as a separate part of this task. When the item is then delivered to an address, the cash will be reimbursed to you on presentation of the receipt.

‘It’s probably a task best suited to someone already going to the shops and lining up for themselves anyway rather than making a special effort.’ 

One Aldi fan, who stumbled across the ad on Airtasker, shared the post in a Facebook group, saying: ‘That’s one way to do it, who would have thought.’