Avid Aldi shoppers may be disappointed as the discounter revealed it’s click-and-collect service would be coming to a sudden halt.

It was only 18 months ago that Aldi CEO Giles Hurley hinted at “big plans” to extend the discounters click-and-collect service, as he admitted that online grocery was “going to be important”.

However, the decision hasn’t come entirely as a shock. Aldi has been steadily ditching its online operation.

In January 2022, it ended its rapid delivery partnership trial with Deliveroo, by January of the following year, it stopped home delivery of its ‘Specialbuys’ and in the autumn of 2023 wine and spirits deliveries had also been axed.

Now, in just five days’ time, shoppers will no longer be able to have their weekly groceries delivered to their car by an Aldi worker in a store’s car park.

Shopping in store will be the only option customers have as the retailer’s ecommerce offer becomes a thing of the past.

But, as other major supermarkets plough more and more cash into expanding their online operation, is this the right move for Aldi?

It may seem an odd move to withdraw from the world of online at a time of real promise and growth for the market.

There may have been a lull after the pandemic online grocery surge, however, ecommerce is back on the rise. The fact that Ocado has been the fastest growing retailer for six months, according to Kantar data, with sales jumping 11.3% in the 12 weeks to 4 August, is testament to this.

Click-and-collect is also proving popular. Less than two years ago – post-pandemic – Barclays found that click-and-collect shopping was worth £42.4bn in the UK – 8.4% of the industry’s total annual income.

Online delivery and collection is also an area that many of Aldi’s competitors have been investing heavily in, from M&S’ striking £750m deal for its joint venture with Ocado Retail, to Tesco launching an online marketplace earlier this year, to the many supermarkets partnering with the likes of Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats to capitalise on rapid delivery.

Of course, while this space has provided real growth opportunity for some, not all retailers can be put in the same box.

In fact, Aldi’s big discounter rival also neither offers online delivery or click-and-collect to its shoppers.

However, Aldi tends to inform it decision by trial and error. In fact, it was quick to ditch its Deliveroo rapid delivery trial in January 2022, when lockdowns were finally a thing of the past and shopping habits started to normalise.

It’s easy to see why Aldi might be keen to ditch online, after all, grocery delivery is less profitable than stores, particularly for value retailers whose business model is centred on simplicity and efficiency.

An Aldi spokesperson said that its focus “is on providing customers with high-quality products at the lowest possible prices,” adding “one of the ways we keep our prices low for customers is by running the most efficient supermarket business in Britain”.

“As a result, we’ve made the decision to bring our click-and-collect service to an end so we can focus on doing just that.”

Low prices are clearly Aldi’s raison d’être, and earlier this year it vowed to “never be beaten on price”. In fact, UK CEO Giles Hurley said “we will continue to do whatever it takes to keep grocery prices as low as possible”.

Meanwhile, unlike the traditional retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury’s, Aldi clearly sees much more growth to be had through store expansion – and attracting new customers through the doors with those low prices.

The discounter, which has just over 1,000 shops, has a long-term target of opening 1,500 and is investing £550m this year alone in expanding its UK footprint.

With so much stores-based growth to go for, it’s unsurprising that Aldi does not want the distraction of online right now. However, when its store expansion slows down, I wouldn’t be surprised if the door on click-and-collect and even home delivery is opened once again.

Cara Houlton is senior journalist at Grocery Gazette