According to Lemon press, Aldi experiences an automated supermarket in London in London where the entry is conditioned on the payment of an advance of 10 pounds, repayable in the event of lack of purchase. This “Shop & Go” model, without cash or staff, is based on a mobile application and raises questions about accessibility and digital exclusion.
It is an initiative to say the least confusing which is echoed Lemon press. According to our colleagues, Aldi began the experimentation in London of a new automated supermarket model. Special feature: To enter this “Shop & Go” store, the customer must first pay. Pour an advance of 10 pounds (11.73 euros).
10 pounds to simply enter the store
A sum that will be reimbursed if he consumes nothing. Provided you have a smartphone, a dedicated application and a connected account. In other words: a technological and financial barrier at the entrance to a trade supposed to be free to access.
The test is part of the logic of a 100 % automated customer route: no funds or output staff, only cameras and sensors to detect items and trigger payment via the application. Lemon press emphasizes that this system transforms the simple fact of crossing the door into a monetized act: we are not just fair “Take a look”but prove that we are solvent.
A social filter disguised behind innovation?
Aldi imposes, under the guise of innovation, a disguised social filter, wonders the site. Consumers who are not particularly comfortable with technologies, without a bank card or without a smartphone are de facto excluded. Progress that therefore only benefits the most connected, denounces Lemon press.
This excessive automation logic is not new. It is part of a broader trend in large distribution to erase human contact, analyze our colleagues again. But transposing in Europe a model of “technological self-service” from Asia could be clumsy. In France, where social interaction remains at the heart of the act of purchase, this experiment would undoubtedly pass.
And you, would you be ready to pay to cross the doors of a supermarket?
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