Aldi launches Australia’s first self-service checkouts
Aldi launched its new self-checkout checkouts in Australia, with shoppers in Sydney being the first to try them.
The supermarket giant unveiled the checkouts at its store in Darlinghurst on Wednesday, which is one of 10 NSW stores that will receive the new feature.
Unlike their Coles and Woolworths counterparts, Aldi self-service checkouts appear to be cards only with no cash options.
Other than that, most of the other features seem to be similar, including a weighted area for bags and a scale for fresh produce.
“We make business decisions in accordance with our low cost model so that we can always provide high quality grocery products at the lowest prices,” an Aldi Australia spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.
“Since checkouts entered the Australian grocery industry, we have watched with keen interest the value and efficiency they generate for business and the convenience they provide to customers.
The new crates are part of a trial, the spokesperson said. Each of the 10 stores will have between six and eight machines installed.
Aldi backflip after shutdown of self-service kiosk plans
It’s a huge change in tone after Aldi Australia told Yahoo Finance in 2019 that it will not be introducing self-checkout in Australia.
“We do not currently intend to test stores with self-checkout,†said a spokesperson for Aldi.
“Reviews told us that our shoppers prefer face-to-face interactions at checkout and are an important part of their in-store experience.
“Our current store format allows us to focus on creating the best in-store experience possible, while continuing to deliver high quality products at consistently low prices. “
It reinforced what Aldi told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A spokesperson told the newspaper that Aldi’s checkouts operate with “industry-leading efficiency” and that Aldi’s policy of having multiple barcodes on packages makes products digitized. a faster task for the staff.
Aldi introduced self-checkout at its UK supermarkets last year to speed up transactions during the Covid-19 pandemic, Retail Gazette reported.
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