Aldi Süd

Aldi Nord and Süd have completed the Europe-wide introduction of reusable fruit and vegetable containers from Ifco. The recyclable load carriers save logistics costs and packaging waste.

At Berlin's Ostbahnhof station, DB Station&Service AG has opened a checkoutless store as a 24/7 ServiceStore with technology from Californian Grab&Go specialist AiFi. Cameras on the ceiling and sensors in the shelves of the 40 square metre store replace scanning completely. It is the first publicly accessible AiFi store in Germany.

Aldi Süd is introducing reverse vending machines from Tomra for both disposable and reusable beverage containers in all its Austrian stores.

With the SmartID project, Fraunhofer institutes are developing a new type of labelling system with which products can be clearly verified and authenticated via smartphone.

Aldi Süd is continuing its rollout of self-checkouts at great speed. Each week, about 50 newly opened or renovated stores in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia and the USA deploy an average of three of the systems each. The technology comes from Diebold Nixdorf.

Aldi Süd is remodelling its checkout zone. On one hand, the discounter is equipping selected stores in Germany with self-checkouts from Diebold Nixdorf. On the other hand, all German Aldi Süd stores will receive at least one double checkout at which two customers can be served simultaneously by one employee. The rollout will start in the first quarter of this…

Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are using WhatsApp for digital customer communication. Both discounters send out their leaflets every Sunday via the short message service. Unlike Rewe, they do not yet plan to completely abandon printed flyers.

Aldi Süd has started to equip its stores in Germany with Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs). Contrary to expectations, the discount market operator is not using labels specially developed for its requirements, but the standard slim labels of the Nebular series from Chinese manufacturer Hanshow.

The market for self-checkout systems is growing by 11 percent worldwide, according to market research company RBR. Biggest growth driver is the Asia-Pacific region. NCR remains the undisputed market leader, but Chinese vendors are catching up.

Every year, almost 500,000 tonnes of food waste are caused in the retail sector in Germany alone, according to the UN Food Waste Index Report from last year. This is not only bad for the industry's image – the commercial damage caused by food being written off without sale is also immense. The problem has been recognised in retail companies,…