Grocer Gold Awards 2022: technology initiative of the year

Winner: Aldi - Shop & Go

Aldi raised a few eyebrows with the launch of its ‘Shop & Go’ store in January. Not only was it a seemingly cost-intensive project for a discounter, but its ‘just walk out’ tech was one step ahead of rivals like Amazon, Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Working in partnership with tech provider AiFi, Aldi eliminated the need for hardware sensors clogging up the shelves. Instead, its checkout-free store relies on highly accurate camera tech to register what shoppers are putting in their baskets.

That’s no mean feat considering its branch in Greenwich, London is the biggest ‘just walk out’ store in the world – measuring at over 5,000 sq ft. It’s also the first in Europe to offer a full range of groceries including age-restricted items, which are approved using age estimation technology. So customers can do an entire shop – including booze – without having to interact with anyone.

Shortlisted:

• B2B Store – b2b.store ecommerce platform
• Get More Vits & AIM (Action Insight Management) - Knowing the Future
• Nectar360 - The Digital Trading Platform
• Tesco - GetGo