Discount German grocers Aldi have launched their UK home delivery service and for now at least will only deliver wine by the case.

One in 13 bottles of wine drunk in the UK have been sourced from an Aldi store, which has apparently been a bit of a hit among everyday wine drinkers who enjoy a tipple as long as the price is right.

Customers from anywhere in the UK will be able to shop online with Aldi, who plan on adding their Special Buys range, including camping gear, cycling wear, electricals and kitchen goods, to the range of products that customers can have delivered to their door in April.

Though still a relative minnow in terms of sales volumes by comparison to the Big 4 supermarkets, Aldi is one of two ‘discounters’ that have taken a substantial lump out of their larger rivals’ revenues. They have led to a bit of a price war on certain goods in supermarket aisles including milk and other core products.

The venture, which is said to have taken £35 million in investment, will allow people making orders of under £50 to pay £3 per delivery, and over £50 to pay nothing for their goods to be delivered either to a Collect Plus store or their home.

Aldi and Lidl have been around for many years but have only recently been taking chunks out of their larger rivals’ revenues and significantly improving competition among the major players. With this move into online grocery deliveries then the major names including Sainsbury, Tesco and Asda will sit up and take note. Their Goliath enterprises already have taken a battering from these David minnows and have learned not to ignore their German rivals who can make a real difference to the grocery shopping landscape in the UK. When, whether and where we will see Aldi refrigerated vans vying for parking space with their Big 4 rivals in the suburbs of the UK remains to be seen…