German discount supermarket chain Aldi says it will end its two-year experiment with a cashier-free supermarket in Utrecht’s centre because the store is too small and sells almost exclusively food.

“It was a fun experiment and we learned a lot,” Florian Scholbeck, Aldi’s international head of communications, told the AD. “But the investments are very big.”

The company says it will now test the system in Eindhoven in a market selling a full range of products.

With cash registers increasingly becoming redundant, Aldi used a system featuring 475 cameras and shelf sensors to track the movements of customers and what they put into their shopping carts. Using an app linked to a payment system, the supermarket automatically deducted the money from the customers’ account as soon as they exited the store.

But much of that initially relied on credit cards, which Dutch patrons did not use. The debit card is still the preferred method of payment.

In addition to the store not having enough customers for the experiment, Aldi told journalists this week that few customers were interested in using the app. Even a system that led customers to a payment terminal that scanned their purchases without them having to take them out of their basket wasn’t enough incentive to draw in the crowds.

In Eindhoven, the test will now include the option to pay by standard means.

Price cuts

The discounter also announced it will implement price reductions in the coming months. But the Consumers’ Association voiced scepticism this week, claiming that Aldi (like many supermarkets) is not being truthful regarding its reductions, which often don’t take place or have been implemented much earlier.

But in an effort to attract more customers, Aldi announced this week that it will further lower prices in part by simplifying its business operations. Purchasing more centrally has also helped reduce prices in recently.

In the past years, Aldi has lost market share in the Netherlands, while its competitor Lidl grew its market.