Aldi Is Removing Self-Checkout Lanes – And It's Not The Only Grocery Store Doing This. Here Are The Others So Far

Self-checkout kiosks are among the most controversial advents in the grocery industry, popular for their convenience yet criticized for being difficult to use and enabling theft. These potential downsides may be why Aldi is getting rid of many self-checkout lanes, joining the growing list of grocery chains that have done the same. During the summer of 2025, Aldi customers began posting to social media about self-checkout systems disappearing from their local stores. In early September, the popular discount grocer confirmed that it has removed the feature from several locations — and it isn't the only chain doing so.

"We continually test and refine our in-store technologies and checkout options to better address customer needs and enhance operational efficiency," an Aldi spokesperson shared in a statement (via Axios Chicago). However, the brand has ensured that "self-checkout will remain available at many Aldi stores." While Aldi has yet to state how many stores will lose their kiosks (and in which areas), online speculation, including comments from self-proclaimed employees on Reddit, alleges that theft is the true culprit behind the move.

Others have added that self-checkout lanes hurt store efficiency due to user errors that require assistance from staff members, who are timed and graded for speed on every task they perform (this is why Aldi's cashiers are so fast). Some shoppers think that the frantic cashiers are among the most annoying things about shopping at Aldi and are mourning their self-checkout stations, while others say that the speedy staff has always been a more convenient option. Either way, other grocery chains are following suit nationwide.

Regardless of customer opinion, Aldi is far from alone in its latest decision. In 2023, Walmart began removing self-checkout from a handful of locations spread across New Mexico, Missouri, and Ohio. In June 2025, a Walmart in Shrewsbury, Missouri, axed all of its self-checkout lanes at once, hoping to reduce the huge volume of police calls from the store regarding shoplifting. Reports and arrests associated with that location have since gone down.

Likewise, Dollar General cut self-checkout from 12,000 of its stores in 2024. Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said that self-checkout will only remain in locations that are "higher-volume and low-shrink," or don't have significant issues with loss of inventory (via Business Insider). That same year, Safeway pulled self-checkout from multiple stores in California with the goal of reducing theft. Regional warehouse chain WinCo also removed the feature from stores in Portland, Oregon, and Billings, Montana, in 2025.

While the concept still has tons of defenders, it's clear why many grocery shoppers and employees think the self-checkout experiment failed and it's time to move on. In addition to profit loss and constant user errors, some assert that automated kiosks take jobs away from cashiers, and many customers dislike the impersonal nature of checking out on their own. In fact, Trader Joe's probably won't offer self-checkout anytime soon since the company prioritizes warm interactions between shoppers and staff. It remains to be seen if yet more popular grocers will start having seller's regret in regard to express lanes.