ALDI will open the doors of ALDI Shop & Go in the center of Utrecht on Wednesday 20 July. This special innovation project of the discounter enables shopping without checkouts or scanning devices through a system of artificial intelligence. aldi contactless

Intelligent cameras in the ceiling and sensors in the shelves detect the movements of the product chosen by the customer. The branch in Utrecht serves as a test location where the new technology is optimized for customers and employees.

How does it work?

In the branch, customers will find trusted-quality products at the lowest possible price. Customers can do their shopping after installing the ALDI Shop & Go app. The groceries can go directly into the bag during shopping, and the customer no longer has to go to the checkout or bother with the self-scan. The app ensures that the products are automatically settled with the credit card to be linked to the app immediately upon leaving the store. Scanning messages is therefore a thing of the past. Employees will remain in the store to stock the shelves, bake fresh bread, and answer customer questions.

Easy shopping

In recent months, several shopping sessions have been organized where ALDI employees could test the machine learning system. With the opening of the test branch, a new phase is entered, in which customers can also experience this new way of shopping, and the system is further optimized.

Jan Oostvogels, CEO ALDI Holding BV in the Netherlands: ‘We are extremely proud that we can test this beautiful innovation project in Utrecht with our customers. It fits within our strategy as a discounter to enable customers to do their shopping as easily as possible. We think along with the customer about how we can make the shopping experience even more pleasant. We know from research that our customers appreciate quick and easy processes at the checkout. Our test branch in Utrecht fits in perfectly with that.’

Technology

It by Trigo Vision Ltd. developed a system that uses intelligent cameras and sensors on the shelves. With this advanced technology, only the movements made by the customer and the product are tracked. The system does not use facial recognition, eye or fingerprint scans, nor the use of other biometric identifiers.

The store is located at Lange Viestraat 2R in Utrecht.

Aldi began testing its first contactless store in the UK in September 2021 and added facial age estimation technology for customers wishing to purchase age-restricted products in January 2022 after opening the outlet for public testing.