Why a $13 dress from Aldi is going viral

An unlikely item from Aldi, the discount grocer, is finding viral fame—a shiny wrap dress. 

The $13 sparkly dress started picking up traction last month in the Facebook group, “Aldi Aisle of Shame Community,” which has more than 1.5 million members. The name of the group jokingly refers to the Aldi Finds aisle, which is known for its quick rotation of a variety of products—everything from specialty foods and gardening and kitchen tools to children’s clothes. Items in the aisle can be there one day and gone the next, including a shiny wrap dress.

Facebook and TikTok users have since posted about the dress with glowing reviews; on TikTok, #aldifinds has 644 million views while #aldidress has 15,000 views.

The Serra Ladies Front Knot Dress dress is so in demand that some customers drove to several locations trying to find it in stock.

“It’s one of the oldest tricks in the retail playbook,” said Sucharita Kodali, VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research. “It creates a treasure hunt mentality for shopping. The German grocers are really good at it because that is their model—to always have limited edition items that you may not see again if you come back.” She added that other grocers such as Lidl and Trader Joe’s use similar tactics.

Last year Aldi gained a million new customers and saw sales at its existing stores rise by double digits, according to a September press release. As inflation has squeezed consumers’ wallets, more higher-income shoppers are turning to Aldi’s for lower prices to cut down on their grocery bills. The Find aisle has an extra layer of urgency when it comes to purchases because of their scarcity.

“If there’s limited time and limited assortment, people rush to get things as soon as they can,” Kodali said.

The dress was only available in stores for a week or two, a spokesperson told “Good Morning America.”

But it “was a hit with Aldi customers all over the U.S. as it flew off our shelves,” the spokesperson said. “We intentionally release a limited amount of these new food and non-food items to see how they resonate with customers—and it's clear that this dress was a hit.”

Aldi will be “introducing more unexpected finds in 2023," the spokesperson said. 

The grocer did not immediately respond to an Ad Age request for comment.