No great surprise as Aldi UK pulls plug on Deliveroo partnership

Yesterday, we reported that Aldi UK had ended its relationship with Deliveroo and pulled 130 stores nationwide from the food delivery platform.

“We have decided to end our trial with Deliveroo to focus on our Click and Collect service, which remains on offer at more than 200 of our stores nationwide,” an Aldi spokesperson told RTIH.

Aldi UK bins Deliveroo tie up and focuses on Click and Collect service #aldi #deliveroo #fooddelivery https://t.co/Hizln8dWsG
— Retail Technology Innovation Hub (@RTIH_RetailTech) January 20, 2022

The move should come as no great surprise, argues Jeffrey Roberts, Partner/Head of Futures at jump! innovation.

“Happy to be proven wrong here but fast, small deliveries seem to miss (what I had always assumed) was the mission of most Aldi UK shoppers: variety and value, with a touch treasure hunt,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

“Fast deliveries of small order runs contrary to this, so not terribly surprised to see the partnership ended.”

Roberts also praised the discounter for launching and scaling the experiment and for pulling the plug when things didn’t pan out. “Always exciting to organisational learning in action!” he wrote.

He added: “Click and Collect seems a more sensible solution. Allows for a speed play but brings the customer into the store for a bit of treasure hunt. Curious to see how the next round of experiments play out.”

Autonomous stores

Earlier this week, Aldi UK launched its first checkout-free store.

The Aldi Shop&Go concept store in Greenwich, London has opened for public testing, having been tested by staff members in recent months.

Situated on Greenwich High Street, it enables customers to complete their shop without scanning a single product, or having to go through a checkout.

They can download the Aldi Shop&Go app, which will allow them to enter the store, pick up their items, and then walk out when they have completed their shop.

Once a customer leaves the store they will then be automatically charged via their selected payment method and a receipt will appear in the app.

The system, provided by AiFi, uses specially positioned cameras.

Those people wishing to buy alcohol, or other Challenge 25 products, will be able to use facial age estimation technology, provided by Yoti, to authorise their purchase.

Hurley said: “This is the culmination of months of work, not least from the team here in Greenwich and I’m looking forward to seeing how customers react to our trial.”

“This store utilises the very latest in retail technology offering Aldi’s award winning products and unbeatable prices to customers in a new and innovative way. The team are really excited about seeing customers come in and experience Aldi Shop&Go.”

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