Lidl's parent company trials till-free mini-store in Heilbronn

Schwarz Group, the parent company of Lidl, Kaufland and others, is testing till-less stores in Germany. Using two formulas, the group wants to gain experience in automated shopping.

“Lidl light”

Nearly everywhere in Europe, retailers are experimenting with new technologies and stores that no longer require a traditional cash register (and almost no staff). Recently, Amazon opened a till-less Fresh store in London, and Jumbo is currently testing smart shopping trolleys in the Netherlands. These are just a few examples of a range of initiatives integrating new technology to make shopping more convenient and more enjoyable for customers.

It seems the discount stores do not want to miss this technological train either. On the Dieter Schwarz Foundation education campus in Heilbronn, Germany, the Schwartz group is currently trialling a formula reminiscent of the Amazon Go concept. The convenience store is called shop.box and is not operated by Lidl or Kaufland, but by Schwarz Restaurantbetriebe.

At present, the store is only accessible to students and staff members from the campus. They can register using the shop.box app. Once inside the store, they can simply take the desired items off the shelves – or put them back – and their smartphone is then no longer needed. The range consists mainly of basic products and can best be described as a slimmed-down Lidl offering. The payment is done automatically via payment provider Klarna, writes SupermarktBlog.
 

Also a pick-up service

Just like Amazon Go, a system of cameras and sensors registers which products customers take off the shelves. Shoppers are asked not to hand over items to other customers, as the technology cannot record this. They are also not allowed to put products on the floor, and a dedicated box for damaged items sits at the exit of the store.
 

Besides the till-less store, Schwarz is also testing a pick-up service. A second app – collect.box – offers the possibility to compile a shopping list on a smartphone and collect the products at a terminal. Here too, payment takes place automatically via Klarna.