Lidl customers have hit out at huge changes made to the checkouts in some of the supermarket’s UK stores.
Increased security measures have been introduced at a number of supermarkets across the country as part of “enhancements”.
They include the introduction of one-way barriers at store exits, while customers must now scan a barcode on their receipt at the self-checkout before they can leave the store.
The changes were spotted at the Shepherd’s Bush Lidl by the Sun, and at the Lidl in Shoreham, West Sussex, by The Grocer.
Lidl shoppers took to social media, upset with the changes, with one saying that we live in “a low trust society now”.
One shopper said: “Used the self-service, paid, barrier stays locked as I leave, alarm goes off. Mestiza shop assistant asks me if I have a receipt, which I did.
“Turns out you now need to scan one to leave the shop… God I love living in such a low trust society now.”
Another added: “My local Lidl have just installed electric gates to leave! You gotta scan your receipt to open gate & exit. Nicking must be off the scale.”
While a third complained that they couldn’t scan a receipt because they had shopping in one hand and a walking stick in the other.
Lidl replied: “Hi there, our team are more than happy to assist if you’re struggling with scanning your receipt in store.”
A Lidl spokesman said: "We are making some enhancements to a small number of our stores, which includes optimising our self-checkout area to improve the overall customer experience in stores where there is a preference for self-checkouts."
Dear @LidlGB
— Constantine Elijah (@costeek) October 7, 2024
How you want me to scan my receipt to exit when one my hand is busy with a walking stick and another is holding a bag? And the option ‘digital receipts only’ doesn’t make sense anymore, as it gets added after a while (and has never actually worked). #lidlgb #lidl
Recent figures showed that the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to a new 20-year high.
A total of 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024, up 29% on the 365,173 recorded in the previous 12 months.
The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics.
James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores said: “The Chancellor’s commitment to tackling shop theft will be warmly welcomed by our members, but they are interested only in action and in crime against their stores and their colleagues being tackled effectively.
“We stand ready to help implement a new and better-funded strategy to stop shop theft, abuse and violence against our members.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel