Aldi UK brings self-checkouts to more stores

Aldi UK is increasing its use of self-checkout technology.

Stores in Lichfield, Atherstone, Hounslow and Tooting are to get self-checkouts between now and the end of July.

Aldi’s first self-checkouts were installed last year in Glascote, near its Atherstone HQ. Also in 2019, they were rolled out to new format Aldi Local stores in London. The aforementioned four stores will bring the total to 12.

Online first

Last month, Aldi UK announced its entrance into the grocery delivery market. With appetite for online food shopping growing during the coronavirus outbreak, the retailer was wise to find a quick way to enter the space, according to GlobalData.

It is significantly behind the big four which have well-established digital channels and have been able to capitalise on the surge in demand in the last few months. But it is starting to play catch up by offering a rapid delivery service from a store in Nottingham, before extending the trial to seven more stores across the East Midlands this month. It is also considering a roll-out to further locations by the end of 2020.

Customers will be able to order from over 150 Aldi products through the Deliveroo app. The retailer will initially offer a range of essential items, such as bread, milk and fresh produce. Sofie Willmott, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “With online food and grocery spend forecast to rocket by 25.5% this year in response to Covid-19, Aldi is keen to get a slice of the pie and is seeking ways to rapidly enter the e-commerce grocery market.”

“The partnership will allow Aldi to gauge demand for home delivery on a small scale and will also enable it to test the process of picking items from stores allowing it to see whether the concept could feasibly be rolled out nationwide.”

Aldi’s move will not be nearly as profitable as its store operation given that Deliveroo’s fees will eat away at already slim grocery margins, she added. However, the limited product range will make picking orders fairly efficient and the partnership will allow the grocer to bypass the high set up costs involved in an in-house online food operation.

“Although initially on a small scale, the trial could quickly give Aldi access to a share of the fastest growing part of the UK retail market,” Willmott concluded.