Aldi Nord

Aldi Nord expanded its app-based customer loyalty programme to the whole of Belgium back in July. The discounter is relying on solution GK Engage from its POS software provider GK Software. This raises the question: will self-scanning with the Aldi Nord app finally become a reality?

No Frills, the discount banner of Canadian retail group Loblaw, is testing self-scanning via app. At three No Frills stores in Toronto, users of the Loblaw Loyalty App PC Optimum can scan their purchases as they shop and check out faster. Under the name Pcogo, the Loblaw Digital Team has integrated Shopreme's white label solution into its app using the…

For Belgium, Aldi Nord has chosen SoluM. The discount giant is currently still in negotiations with further technology providers for other countries.

Trigo is now also marketing its software as a loss prevention solution. The provider of scanless store technologies claims that using existing CCTV systems with AI, it can automatically detect discrepancies between picked up articles and those scanned.

Aldi Nord has found a new CIO. According to Lebensmittel Zeitung, Oliver Tackmann, who played a key role in shaping DIY store franchisor Obi during his long career as it head of IT and logistics, is to become the discounter's Chief Information Officer.

GK has acquired Nomitri, a start-up company specialising in vision recognition. The Berlin-based start-up's solutions will be fully integrated into GK’s retail platform Cloud4Retail under the name GK Vision. Nomitri will continue to exist as a wholly owned subsidiary of GK.

Aldi Nord is testing a modified self-checkout strategy at three stores in Germany. Similar to its competitor Lidl, the discounter is using GK's software consistently for both manned checkouts and self-checkouts. The discounter also uses the same hardware components in the checkout lanes as at the self-checkouts. The counter for the current self-checkout prototype is supplied by shopfitting specialist Kesseböhmer.

Hornbach is implementing AI-based forecasting and replenishment solutions from Relex across Europe. With the platform from the Finnish software provider, the DIY store operator is replacing SAP's F&R Engine.

Retail companies today have unprecedented opportunities to use technology to bring their customers out of anonymity and to gain valuable data about individual purchasing behaviour. If retail companies succeed in consistently using customer data collected at various touchpoints, they create ideal conditions for completely transforming the way they do business and communicate with their customers.

Aldi Nord is piloting a customer loyalty programme for the first time. Users of the Aldi app can collect bonus points in 70 of the discounter's stores in Belgium. The application was developed together with software specialist GK.