Discounter giant Aldi has axed the click-and-collect service it introduced in the UK at the height of the pandemic.

Aldi Click and Collect 1

Source: Aldi

Aldi is to drop click and collect from August 18

Launched in September 2020, Aldi’s click and collect was introduced in response to the online grocery shopping boom driven by the Covid-19 lockdowns.

It is currently available to Aldi customers in 174 of its 1,000-plus stores, but the service will be axed on August 18, according to reporting from The Grocer.

Unlike its supermarket competitors, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons, Aldi does not offer home delivery.

Online grocery delivery peaked at about 15% of sales during the pandemic, but has retreated in recent years to less than 13%, according to the latest data from Kantar.

During the cost-of-living crisis, its discounter cousin Lidl expanded rapidly in the UK and Aldi was able to overtake Morrisons as the fourth largest supermarket during that time.

However, recent market share data shows Aldi is losing its grip. It finished the 12 weeks to August 4 on 10% of the market, down 20 basis points on the year.

Lidl by comparison went from strength to strength, with sales for the period up 7.8%. Buoyed by its sales rise, Lidl won an extra 0.4 percentage points in the grocery market, taking its total share to 8.1%.