Aldi: ushering in mobile and checkout-free retail trial
Aldi has become an unexpected front runner in the roll out of checkout-free retail in the UK, announcing a technology trial at a new London-based concept store.
The trial will allow customers to scan a smartphone app to enter the store, pick up their shopping, and simply walk out without the need to pay at a till. Shortly after their visit, they will get an email receipt and be charged automatically using their chosen payment method.
Britain’s fifth-largest supermarket says that colleagues are currently testing the store and further trials will be carried out by members of the public.
Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer for Aldi UK and Ireland, explains: “We are always looking to redefine what it means to be a discount retailer, and the technology involved in this trial will give us a wealth of learnings. We are really excited to be testing this concept that will enable customers to pick from our range of quality products, all available at unbeatable prices, then leave the store without having to pay at a till.”
The first concept store will employ approximately the same number of colleagues as a typical Aldi Local.
The announcement follows Aldi’s launch of click-and-collect last year, which is now available in more than 200 Aldi stores across the UK, enabling customers to carry out a full weekly shop online and collect their orders in store.
Aldi’s move makes it one of only a handful of retailers in the UK moving to customer trials of checkout-free retail, following Amazon’s expansion of its Amazon Go automated stores coming to London late last year. It now has six in operation
Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-Op have all done early trials of ways to eliminate the shopping queue. Co-op’s Pay in Aisle App was launched in 2018 and Sainsbury’s trialled a cashier-less store in London’s Holborn Circus in 2019 and Tesco announced plans this summer for a public roll out of its first consumer-facing cashier-less store.
via https://AiUpNow.com September 22, 2021 at 05:42AM by Paul Skeldon, Khareem Sudlow,
