(Solved): ALDI is a grocery store company that first opened its doors in Germany in 1961. The Albrecht family ...

ALDI is a grocery store company that first opened its doors in Germany in 1961. The Albrecht family founded the grocery store with aims to simplify the grocery store experience and offer far lower prices than competitors. ALDI is not a typical chain grocery store. ALDI focuses on volume purchasing the products customers need most, so prices stay low and folks are never left searching for what they need. ALDI also presents most products in its stores in their original shipping containers, saving major time and resources and ensuring efficiency and quality. In 2019, Aldi officially made its entrance into China's retail scene with two physical supermarket stores in Shanghai. This follows the supermarket chain's soft entry into the world's most populous country in 2017 with a cross-border e-commerce store first on Tmall Global, and then an online flagship store on the regular Tmall a year later. According to the data released by IGD, the international grocery research organization, the grocery retail market in China was forecast to grow by \( 32.6 \% \) to 2022 . Euromonitor International has indicated in a study that "Chinese consumers' shopping habits became increasingly polarized, as many consumers, especially those in higher-tier cities, started to focus more on convenience and quality, in line with their rising disposable incomes and the fast pace of daily work and life", others were "still more price-sensitive" To meet the need of modern people living in big cities, numerous of boutique supermarkets(such as CityShop, Olé) have appeared on the highly competitive grocery retail market in China in the last decade. Due to the food safety concerns, the demand for high-end groceries is growing among the wealthier Chinese. These boutique supermarkets have been able to satisfy the affluent middle class's needs by offering them well-selected imported groceries. In addition, this kind of grocery stores has a more comfortable set-up, which makes it more convenient to shop around. The stylish in-store environment also makes the shopping experience more exclusive. According to Aldi, its target audience in China is consumers who are looking for high quality, imported products at a good value. For instance, they carry private label German beer which retails at a discounted price. Chinese consumers tend to purchase this as it is a German brand, and German products tend to be associated with high quality. a) Conduct a PESTEL analysis for Aldi in China. (10\%) b) Which of the external forces you have identified has most implications for Aldi? (5\%) c) What are the main risks of expanding rapidly in Chinese market for Aldi? (10\%)