Discount supermarket chain Aldi is refurbishing its London Shop & Go store and adding in self-checkouts. 

The changes at the Greenwich store were revealed today (20 August), as the shop reopened after shutting on 4 August to complete its upgrade, The Grocer reported.

AI cameras across the shop track what shoppers pick up from shelves and calculate the bill, meaning customers do not need to scan products unless they choose to use one of the new self-checkouts.

Customers will no longer need to tap a payment card or scan a QR code in the retailer’s Shop & Go app at a turnstile to come into the shop. Shoppers who choose not to use a self-checkout can tap or scan to pay for their groceries in a new “fast lane” when they leave the store.

A new tutorial in the app reads: “Ready to leave? Just scan your app QR code or tap your card on our fast lane to exit the store. We’ll inform you when the receipt is ready.”

“You can also scan your app QR code or tap your payment card at out self-checkouts to leave. No need to scan your items yourself.”

Prior to the changes, tapping or scanning at one of the store’s entrance turnstiles led to a £10 “pre-authorisation” payment being taken from a customer’s payment card.

The charge served as a deposit towards the full cost of a shop, with the remainder automatically taken off when the shopper left. Customers who did not spend £10 in the shop needed to wait up to a week for their money to be refunded to their payment card.

Despite shifting its turnstiles to the fast lane exit, the supermarket will still charge customers using them a minimum £10, before refunding the difference if the cost of their shop comes to less.

It is believed this is due to the technology taking longer to reliably establish that a shopper has picked up under £10 worth of groceries. Aldi did not provide a comment on the matter.

Last week it was reported that Aldi was set to carry out upgrades at more than 20 of its UK stores before the end of 2025, including major extensions at two sites.

The grocer also recently revealed that it would be opening an average of one new supermarket a week for the rest of the year as it ramped up its expansion programme.

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