ALDI now focuses on premium products with natural ingredients at an affordable price for the middle-income group. Brandless’ thesis is ALDI’s playbook. But ALDI mastered the cost structure that is needed to make the model work. Brandless kicked the problem down the road with SoftBank’s money.
When the buyer population shifts from early adopters to average people, it necessarily shifts from people who will buy every brand-new update because it’s a brand-new update to the much larger cohort that’s satisfied by default with the current options and doesn’t feel the pressing need to upgrade.
The truly awful thing about success is that it’s held up all those years as the thing that would make everything all right.
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