Aldi shoppers divided over new self-serve checkouts in Australia

Aldi shoppers are venting their frustrations as the retailer installs self-serve checkouts in more stores across the country – after many praised the update.

Customers are claiming they prefer to put their groceries through at staffed tills and ‘refuse to use’ self-serve checkouts especially as many are card only. 

One woman even said she has abandoned her entire trolley of groceries and walked out of an Aldi store multiple times when there were no manned registers available. 

A Sunshine Coast customer was delighted to see the checkouts at her local store and shared the update online but was met with a flurry of comments slamming the new system.

‘Aldi shoppers! So many times I have heard people say ‘why don’t they have self checkouts?’…Well, look what has arrived at my local on the Sunshine Coast,’ she wrote in a post of the Mums who Budget and Save Facebook group. 

While she was excited by the new addition, the post was quickly met with hostility by many who said they ‘refuse’ to put their shopping through the unstaffed tills. 

‘Many a time I’ve left a full trolley and walked out. If they’re not going to pay someone to serve me they can pay someone to put everything back out of my trolley,’ a disgruntled shopper replied. 

‘I don’t use any self checkout. I don’t work there!’ a second agreed and another said: ‘I prefer a human interaction and to help people keep their jobs’. 

‘Please no. I do a massive shop and the last thing I need is to put it through myself!’ a fourth complained while another wrote: ‘Wrong. Just wrong’.

Shoppers are claiming they prefer to put their groceries through at staffed tills and ‘refuse to use’ self-serve checkouts especially as many are card only

However there were many fans of the self-serve checkouts who say the registers make it easier for those who are only buying a handful of items to swiftly get through their shopping. 

‘I absolutely love them. I now can go through with my basket of stuff and not have to wait in line,’ one woman said.

‘Handy when I’m only going to a supermarket to get just a basketful of things…I have better things to do than wait behind people with trolleys mountain full of groceries,’ a mum added.

‘My kids love using the self serve checkouts so they are happy to do it for me.’   

‘Well kinda makes sense since I gotta pack my own bags, at least I can do it at my own pace,’ another pointed out.

But the self-serve haters weren’t having bar and continued to criticise the tills saying the volume is ‘too loud’ and that they don’t accept cash.  

Aldi has addressed the checkout concerns multiple times since it slowly started to roll out the self service tills in stores all over Australia in 2021.

An Aldi spokesperson previously told FEMAIL: ‘Self-serve checkouts are a quick and convenient way for customers to shop, and all ALDI self-serve checkouts are card only to maximise efficiencies.’

Previously shoppers were all for the self-serve checkouts saying Aldi workers are ‘too fast’ at scanning their groceries. 

They said many Aldi employees can groceries at the checkout far too quickly for them to bag their items before the transaction finishes so were thankful for the self-serve aisles. 

Many said they still loved the unmanned registers but the haters weren’t having bar and continued to criticise the tills saying the volume is ‘too loud’ and that they don’t accept cash 

‘At least now I can pack my groceries without it being thrown at my face! No offense to Aldi staff, but you guys are just too quick!’ one customer wrote on Facebook.

In response, one former worker revealed the computers track how many items they are scanning per minute and gave their advice for getting through the register fuss-free.

‘We were measured on items per minute when on registers – which is shown at the end of your shift when closing out your individual till. Promise you, they’re not doing it for fun,’ they explained.

‘Don’t pack your bags at the register. Toss it all into the trolley/basket when scanned at take your time at the packing bench just next to the registers. Or buy those bags that hook into the trolley basket so you can kind of pack quickly,’ they added.

Aldi employees review and adjust their scan speed based on how quickly or slowly each customer packs their shopping.

If a customer would like a checkout worker to slow down, they are encouraged to request they do so.