Just before Christmas they had something similar. Our local branch had maybe two in stock which sold out as soon as they opened, and on asking staff they said that other branches had a similar situation, with people queuing outside waiting for them to open. Sounds like it was a teaser to encourage customers who might then buy something else to reduce their disappointment at a wasted journey.
That is where 90% of the profit comes from.
I'd be surprised if 90% of profit came from such a small section of the store.
Obviously, every item has a different margin, but if you stand in an Aldi checkout queue most of the trolleys are full of groceries.
And they aren't going to make much from the air fryer offer if each store only gets a handful.
The special buys take up over a third of the three stores I've worked in. It's not a small section, it's what the business revolves around. There are many more special buys than just the airfryer mentioned in the OP, but i think you know this already.
Aldi makes pence on the groceries and pounds on the special buys. If it wasn't for special buys, the groceries would be more expensive.They do but I would think the turnover and profit from the rest of the store is not insignificant. ...
There's a lot of items which get dropped for no other reason than making space for seasonal items. Shelf space is finite after all. As an example, they have to stop stocking certain frozen lines in order to make space for fifty different types of ice lollies in the summer.... They are quick to drop lines that are not shifting enough stock quickly enough. Have a lost count the number of time Aldi have dropped and then decided to restock cornflour. Currently seems to be in favour.