Aldi Greenwich till-free store now open
Main image: Taken last week shortly before opening
Aldi have opened their checkout-free shop in Greenwich town centre today under the brand Shop&Go.
The shop follows a concept seen at other major supermarkets and Amazon, with customers picking up items and walking out. An app must be activated when entering which tracks what is picked up.
The Aldi store has opened some months late. Two dates were given for opening back in November.
New concept
The new shop closes at 11pm on weekdays and Saturdays. The customer base will include tourists and people moving into many new flats under construction.
Aldi is also an international brand with recognition across the globe. Tourists might be flummoxed to find the concept store (let alone some locals), and staff trying to explain in other languages that you cannot just walk in but must activate an app will perhaps not be the easiest.
Given intended customers and heavy footfall outside, few will be expected to drive and park.
A replacement Post Office may be locate din the car park with development plans for the existing branch, will will further discourage driving.
The new Aldi has changed hands a number of times. It was a Poundstretcher (much missed by yours truly) and a co-op before that. A Somerfield also occupied the site until they were taken over by co-op. That’s about as far back as I remember.
Let me know what you think if you’ve been.
I’d like to let people know what I think of the new store, but I’m effectively barred from buying anything there because I don’t have a device that uses apps. Whatever happened to choice? Clearly I can choose to shop elsewhere, but Aldi are losing my custom because of their decision. That’s not very bright, is it? They’ve made a huge profit around the world up until now, despite employing checkout staff, so perhaps this new concept is all about getting people out of the place as soon as possible. As social mixing is now partially viewed with suspicion, they’ve captured the zeitgeist, as it were. I never thought I’d be so pretentious as to write that, but, as we’ve seen, times change.
I thought that I’d read somewhere that Aldi had changed their minds and were having some tills available also?
Has anyone been down to check it out yet?
There could be at least be some self service checkouts with staff on hand to help shoppers who struggle to use them.
Not everyone has an IPhone or can use technology. Including the elderly and disabled.
@Pat: the BBC did a write up today – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60038681 – and sent a reporter to the store. You can hear the report on this evening’s Radio 4 ‘PM’ programme at about 40 minutes into the hour long broadcast.