Aldi has added a contactless card payment option to its checkout-free ‘Shop&Go’ store.
It means shoppers no longer need to download Aldi’s Shop&Go app to access the Greenwich store, which opened in January 2022.
The store uses cameras and AI to detect what customers pick up, meaning they can ‘just walk out’ with their shopping, with no need to check out or scan items.
Until now, shoppers have needed to download the app, register, add their payment card details and scan their phone at a barrier to enter. They are then automatically charged for their shopping on leaving and a receipt is generated in the app.
As an alternative, shoppers can now simply tap their payment card at the barrier to enter, with no need to download the app or register. On leaving the store, they are charged for their shopping via their card.
To see a receipt, they can visit shopandgo.aldi.co.uk and enter a five-digit reference for the transaction from their banking app.
Aldi ‘soft-launched’ the new payment option in December, ahead of plans to publicise it in January.
Customers can also still use the Shop&Go app in the same way as before.
Read more: Aldi’s new ‘just walk out’ Greenwich store: what’s it like inside?
“It has been great to see how positively customers have responded to our Shop&Go trial, and this latest change will help to make it even quicker and easier for people to use the store,” said Aldi UK regional MD Ben Shotter.
“We’re always looking for ways to improve our customers’ shopping experience, which is what our Shop&Go store is all about.”
Not everyone has taken well to the requirement to download an app and scan their phone to enter Aldi’s concept store. In July last year, Piers Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn’s brother, made headlines when footage shared on social media appeared to show him attempting to pay in cash before leaving the store.
Aldi’s addition of a new payment method follows a similar move by Amazon. The e-commerce giant temporarily closed its Amazon Fresh store in London’s Angel last April to introduce a card payment option. All Amazon Fresh stores to have opened since also accept card payment. As with Aldi, customers must visit a website to view their receipt.
Tesco introduced a hybrid system at its Fulham Reach Express GetGo store in November. Customers take their shopping to the checkout, where they are automatically presented with a list of the items they picked up, with no need for scanning. They then pay in the usual way and get a receipt instantly.
No comments yet