Aldi becomes first UK supermarket to make major self-checkout change

The grocery giant has announced that it’s making a major change to self-checkouts, giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase their National Lottery tickets directly at the till.

By the end of spring, a range of tickets, including Lotto Lucky Dip, EuroMillions, Thunderball, and Set For Life games, will be available to purchase at the self-checkout, making the supermarket chain the first in the UK to offer the service.

And it doesn’t stop at just purchasing your tickets, either.

Punters with a National Lottery Fast Pay card are in for a sweet deal, as they can scan their card to generate their bespoke tickets, too.

In a statement, Richard Thornton, communications director at Aldi, said the grocery giant is always looking at how to improve the shopping experience for customers and believes this is yet another way of doing so.

‘As the UK’s cheapest supermarket, our shoppers know they’ll always find amazing value at Aldi, but we hope some lucky customers manage to find the winning numbers at our self-checkouts too.’

Meanwhile, Jenny Blogg, operations director at Allwyn, explained that part of transforming Allwyn’s retail presence means adapting what’s on offer in stores – including Aldi.

‘However Aldi customers choose to shop – whether at the main tills or via self-checkout – they’ll always have the option to pick up a National Lottery game,’ she said.

‘This project has been a massive effort by the teams at both Allwyn and Aldi, and my sincere thanks must go to everyone involved.’

As with all lottery ticket purchases, customers will be subject to an age verification check to ensure they meet the age restrictions, and just like with restricted items such as alcohol, Aldi staff members will carry out these checks before shoppers can pay for their goods.

It’s a huge win for punters as the National Lottery is currently sold at most large Post Offices, supermarkets and newsagents but never before at self-checkouts.

The self-checkout lottery marks the second major announcement by the retailer this week, after Aldi revealed plans to upgrade all its supermarkets, with a particular focus on improving the bakery section.

The business is going to be splashing a whopping £67,000,000 to upgrade its stores across the UK this year, and in addition to improving the bakery fixtures, they’ll also be making changes to health and beauty sections, as well as the fridges in the chilled aisle, where they’ll be upgrading the units to reduce carbon emissions (equivalent to heating over 6,500 homes).

These are all big changes Fulham Broadway in London, Billericay in Essex, and Cheadle in Stoke-on-Trent are getting to be a part of as Aldi is opening stores in the three locations.