Aldi has launched its click and collect service to customers. The service, initially piloted through online sales to staff members at a branch in the Midlands, was made available to its first public customers last week and will be rolled out from there.
The supermarket says it will make “further innovations” across the business, as it promises to invest £1.3bn by 2021 on measures including 100 new stores, upgrades to more than 100 others and investment in distribution centres. As a result, the supermarket expects to create 4,000 more jobs over the next year, adding to the 3,000 already created in 2020, and to a total workforce of about 36,000 people.
The update came as Aldi, ranked Top500 in RXUK Top500 research, released its figures for the 2019 financial year. It reported sales of £12.3bn, an 8% rise on £11.3bn in the previous year, as new shoppers bought from it. Pre-tax profits of £271.5m were up by 49% on the same time last year.
The retailer, which this year marks its 30th anniversary in the UK, said its top priority was to keep its prices down at a time when household budgets are under pressure.
Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “The founding principle of our UK business back in 1990 was to offer a carefully-selected range of great quality products at the lowest prices. Whilst we’re continuing to innovate to give customers an even better experience and greater convenience, our core philosophy remains unchanged.
“With the UK’s economic outlook increasingly uncertain, families are more concerned about their grocery bills than ever. We’ve seen before that our customers need us most in times of financial hardship, which is why our commitment to remain Britain’s lowest-priced supermarket is more important than ever.”
The supermarket said it spent £8bn with UK suppliers last year, sourcing all of its fresh meat, eggs, milk, butter and cream within this market. It has also committed to cutting the volume of plastic packaging it uses by 2025 by half, in a move that would take 2bn pieces of plastic out of circulation.
