Aldi has axed its click & collect service in 12 stores, citing weak demand as the reason.
Aldi said footfall and sales in the affected stores remained in growth and about 200 branches continued to offer the click & collect service.
Shoppers in affected areas have been informed of click & collect ending at their local store via Aldi’s newsletter.
Aldi first launched click & collect during the lockdown-fuelled online boom of 2020, and had rolled it out to over 200 stores by the end of that year. The discounter said in its 2020 Christmas trading update that “thousands of customers” had ordered their groceries online.
However, the service did not roll out further. In April this year, Aldi UK & Ireland CEO Giles Hurley told The Grocer click & collect has been a “great learning” but there were no plans to expand it.
He said Aldi instead saw the “right next step” as self-checkouts, which it was rolling out across its entire estate, including machines with larger bagging scales to cater for a trolley in many stores.
Aldi’s click & collect service comes with a £4.99 charge, with shopping brought to the customer’s car by a staff member.
The recent click & collect move is just Aldi’s latest rowback from online. In 2022 it ditched a partnership with Deliveroo, removing 130 stores from the on-demand delivery app, as shoppers began returning to shops more in the wake of the pandemic.
And earlier this year the supermarket axed home delivery of general merchandise ‘Specialbuys’ and wines & spirits, a service it launched in 2015. The discounter said ending the service would help it focus on low prices and estate expansion.
Aldi also launched a ‘just walk out’ checkout-free store called Aldi Shop & Go in Greenwich, London, at the start of 2022, but has not extended the service to more stores.
The discounter has been making significant market share gains in the cost of living crisis as shoppers switch from traditional supermarkets to save money. Latest Kantar data put Aldi’s market share at a record 10.2% in the 12 weeks to 11 June 2023, up from 9% a year earlier. It was also the fastest growing supermarket in the 12 weeks, with sales up 24.6% year on year.
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