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Aldi branch in London (archive image)
Photo: Will Oliver / dpa
Amazon already operates branches of this type in Europe, the German retail chain Tegut is experimenting with small shops - now Aldi is testing a supermarket without a checkout in London.
Customers only need an app to shop, they are scanned when they enter.
In the store, technology registers who has taken which goods.
The price is debited via the app after leaving the shop.
"We are always looking to redefine what it means to be a discounter and the technology used in this test will provide us with a wealth of knowledge," said Aldi UK and Ireland boss Giles Hurley.
Aldi did not want to reveal exactly in which branch the tests are running.
First, employees of the German retail giant are supposed to test the technology, and in a further step customers will also be tested.
The British competitor Tesco is already having cashier-free shops tested by employees at its headquarters, using Amazon technology.
Aldi is the fifth largest supermarket chain in Great Britain with more than 920 stores.
Last year the discounter offered for the first time to pick up goods purchased online on site (“Click and Collect”), and this is now possible in more than 200 shops across the country.
In March in London, Amazon opened a store without a cash register for the first time in Europe under the name Amazon Fresh.
In the USA, the online retail giant now has a good two dozen of these stores, which are called Amazon Go there.
fdi / dpa
