Aldi is to trial self-service checkouts in one of its stores for the first time.

The first automated tills will be at the supermarket’s Glascote store in Tamworth and will allow customers to pay for their own shopping without it being scanned by a store assistant.

The system, which includes both card-only and cash tills, is being trialled with a view to evaluate the technology before further roll-out decisions are made.

Richard Thornton, communications director at Aldi UK, said: “As well as providing outstanding quality products at unbeatable prices, we are focused on giving our customers a quick and simple experience in our stores.

“We think these new checkouts will help further improve that experience and we are looking forward to seeing how customers respond to this extra option at our Glascote store.”

Recent predictions from Juniper Research suggested retail spend at stores with ‘frictionless payment points’ will grow from an estimated $253 million in 2018 to over $45 billion by 2023.

The consultancy expects most of these transactions to be in convenience and general stores, with an average transaction value around $30 per visit throughout the forecast period. Self-scanning apps, an alternative to ‘just walk out’ technologies, will be used by over 32 million shoppers by 2023, driving higher engagement.

However, early cashierless shopping trials underway with a range of retailers across the US and Europe have run into concerns that shop security could hold back the roll-out of the technology.

In the last 12 months, the Co-Operative and Sainsbury’s supermarkets in the UK have run in-store pilot schemes, while Europe’s largest consumer electronics retailer MediaMarktSaturn recently deployed MishiPay’s mobile self-checkout solution in the world’s biggest electronics store in Hamburg.

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