Supermarket Aldi is making a bid for ‘Specialbuys’ to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary after the iconic aisle has gained cult status with UK shoppers, thanks to its quirky range of top quality, affordable products - including everything from egg chairs to inflatable kayaks, fire pits to e-bikes and homeware to bedding.
Since 2008 - when the middle aisle was first introduced to the UK - an army of Specialbuyers has grown. They think nothing of setting their alarms for 4am on a Sunday to be the first to see the newly updated Specialbuys online page and get their hands on Aldi’s latest must-haves.
Owing to the ever-growing popularity of the Aisle of Aldi, the supermarket has applied for ‘Specialbuys’ to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
And as part of its bid, Aldi has released new online sales figures which reveal where classic Specialbuys are the most popular across the UK:
Specialbuy |
Biggest UK online sales |
Inflatable Spa Pool |
Birmingham |
Kamado BBQ |
Bury |
Caravan Toilet Fluid |
Chelmsford, Essex |
Pet products |
Bristol |
Gym equipment |
Guildford, Surrey |
Valentine’s Day range |
Manchester |
Cycling range |
Birkenhead, Merseyside |
While secrecy surrounds the latest haul of twice-weekly Specialbuys, social media is regularly full of predictions on what might be revealed next. Over the past 12 months, ‘Specialbuys’ has been mentioned 53.8K times on social media sites, resulting in it being seen by users a whopping 9.4 billion times on Twitter alone.
Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, said: “Specialbuys have taken on a life of their own over the last 13 years - they’re beloved by shoppers and even have pages dedicated to them on social media.
“From garden furniture to pet gear, and kayaks to spa pools, the Specialbuys concept of amazing value products that you didn’t know you needed until you came across them has struck a chord with the British public. Being able to buy them online has also helped to boost their must-have status. The term Specialbuys is now part of the UK retail landscape, and we think it deserves official recognition in the Oxford English Dictionary.”
