Lidl is pushing ahead with the expansion of its phone-based self-checkout system across Britain.
Deeming the initial trial a success since it launched in late 2024, the discount grocer is bringing the feature to more customers in the UK. Throughout July, a further 37 stores will get the new feature, letting shoppers scan groceries themselves as they walk around rather than waiting until the till. While Lidl says it’s proving popular with a lot of customers, not everyone is convinced it’s the upgrade the supermarket is hoping for.
How the new system actually works
Called Lidl & Go, the feature is built directly into the Lidl Plus app, letting shoppers scan items on their own phone as they pick them up. A running total updates in real time, so customers can keep an eye on what they’re spending throughout their shop, rather than only finding out at the till.
Once the shop is finished, there’s no need to unload everything onto a belt to be scanned all over again, since it’s already been logged. Lidl says this saves time and takes away some of the pressure that comes with trying to keep pace with a fast-moving checkout assistant.
The new feature is winning over many shoppers.
According to feedback from the first seven trial stores, the feature proved especially popular among parents and customers who are watching their budget closely. Being able to see a running total as you shop makes it a lot easier to stay within a set spending limit.
Lidl’s chief customer officer said the early response has been encouraging, with customers saying they value the sense of control and visibility it gives them over their spending, along with the flexibility to shop at whatever pace suits them.
The full list of stores getting Lidl & Go this July
Windmill Street, Motherwell
Kelso
Seafield Road, Edinburgh
Bucksburn, Aberdeen
Torry, Aberdeen
Inverness
Lochee, Dundee
Dumfries
St James Street, East Kilbride
Bellshill
Larkhall
Whitburn
Alderstone Road, Livingston
Stevenston
Greenock
Weaver Row, Stirling
The full list of stores getting Lidl & Go this July continued…
Kirkcaldy
Riggs Road, Perth
Macalpine Road, Dundee
East Grinstead
Sevenoaks
Woolston
Gosport
Somerford Road, Christchurch
Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth
Waterlooville
Hayling Island
Arundel Road, Brighton
Old Shoreham Road, Brighton
Shoreham
Alton
Farnborough
Worting Road, Basingstoke
Reading Road, Basingstoke
Churchill Way West, Salisbury
Burgess Hill
Billingshurst
The move is part of a much bigger digital push.
This rollout is simply the latest step in Lidl’s broader move toward digital shopping tools. It joins existing features like Lidl Pay, personalised coupons through the app, a click, reserve and collect service, and the recently launched Lidl Points rewards scheme.
Lidl has been clear that staffed tills and traditional payment methods aren’t going anywhere, insisting that Lidl & Go is simply an added option rather than a replacement for the way people already shop.
Of course, some customers are far from convinced.
Despite Lidl’s optimism, plenty of shoppers have voiced real frustration online. Complaints range from an app that barely works properly in the first place, to worries about long queues, poor mobile signal in store, and how age restricted items like alcohol will actually be handled through a self-scan system. One customer whose local store took part in the original pilot described the experience bluntly as “awful,” saying queues had actually got worse rather than better since the feature was introduced.
Not everyone hates it, though.
It isn’t all negative feedback. Some shoppers have welcomed the change, particularly for smaller, quicker shops where scanning items directly into a bag feels far more convenient than a traditional till. One happy customer said it makes shopping so much easier once you’re used to it, simply scanning items and packing them straight away, rather than dealing with a conveyor belt and a second round of scanning at the till.
This is part of a wider trend across UK supermarkets.
Lidl is far from the only supermarket investing heavily in this kind of technology. Every major UK supermarket has poured money into self-service checkouts, app-based scanning and digital payment systems in recent years, and the reaction across the industry has been similarly mixed.
A lack of staffed tills reportedly led to a customer walkout at an Asda store in Cornwall last year, while Tesco’s use of automatic security scales for its Scan as you Shop customers was branded dystopian by some shoppers online. Upmarket chains haven’t escaped criticism either, with Waitrose and Sainsbury’s both facing backlash over AI trolleys and facial recognition at checkouts.
There’s agrowing pushback against automated shopping.
The move toward automation has sparked a backlash among some shoppers, with one campaigner launching a petition calling on supermarkets to bring back more staffed, cash-accepting tills. The petition has already gathered more than 72,000 signatures in just a matter of weeks.
The campaigner behind it argued that while companies frame these changes as modernising, the real effect is narrowing choice and quietly excluding anyone who doesn’t fit neatly into a digital-first way of shopping.
