With AI, Lidl is transforming the way Delano shop. Published on 04.05.2026 - Edited on 04.05.2026 at 06:18 Scanning your shopping on your smartphone is meant to save time and give you a better idea of the total bill... but it also gives the retailer a better insight into the customer, enabling them to tailor their offerings and promotions. It's a trend that's taking hold. Photo: Lidl With its AI-enhanced Scan & Go service for fruit and vegetables, Lidl is rolling out a very tangible transformation of the customer journey in Luxembourg. Beyond the hype, the retailer is specifically targeting friction points in the supermarket and exemplifies a broader shift in the physical retail sector, which is now shaped by data and partial automation. Since Monday 4 May, Lidl has been trialling a Scan & Go system integrated into its Lidl Plus app at its stores in Dudelange, Strassen and Windhof; this trial is set to be rolled out to all its stores in Luxembourg by the end of 2027. The concept is familiar, but its implementation marks a further step forward. Customers scan their items as they shop, view the total cost of their basket in real time and complete their payment in a matter of seconds at the self-checkout machines. The entire shopping experience is thus centred on the smartphone, which becomes the sole interface between the customer, the store and personalised offers. The most transformative innovation lies in the introduction of smart scales equipped with visual recognition. Installed in the fruit and vegetable and frozen food aisles, these scales automatically identify the product placed on them, display a match on the screen and generate a barcode label that can be used in the Scan & Go lane or at self-checkouts. This feature, which may seem trivial at first glance, addresses an operational issue clearly identified by retailers. Fresh produce has historically been the main obstacle to self-scanning, due to the complexity of identifying items and frequent errors. By automating this step, Lidl is tackling one of the last remaining irritants in the self-service journey. Monoprix since... 2010. This type of innovation is part of a trend that began several years ago. Monoprix had already been experimenting, as early as the late 2010s, with systems combining mobile scanning and visual recognition via its Smart Monop technology, featuring systems capable of automatically checking a shopping basket using sensors and scales. For their part, Carrefour and Ahold Delhaize have widely rolled out mobile scanning, whilst remaining reliant on manual intervention for bulk goods. At the other end of the spectrum, Amazon takes this approach to its logical conclusion by eliminating checkouts entirely, using sensors and cameras capable of automatically identifying products. However, this model remains costly and difficult to roll out on a large scale. Lidl has adopted a middle ground, automating only the critical bottlenecks without completely overhauling the store's infrastructure. This strategy is a response to significant economic pressures. In a sector with low margins, partial automation enables efficiency gains without requiring the massive investment needed for a fully autonomous store. It is also part of a broader trend in the evolution of checkouts. The Belgian retailer Colruyt plans to introduce AI-assisted checkouts in Luxembourg that can automatically recognise products at the checkout, with an estimated time saving of between 17% and 20%. Cashiers who have time... to chat. However, this rise in automation is not following a linear path. At the same time, some retailers in Luxembourg are retaining, or even emphasising, traditional staffed checkouts. This decision responds to a persistent demand from a section of the customer base who value the interaction with a cashier and are reluctant to see the entire shopping experience fully automated. It also reflects an operational reality: despite the growth of self-service checkouts, a human presence remains essential to assist customers and manage complex situations. "With these new technologies, our primary aim is to make life easier for our customers. The shopping experience becomes quicker, but we are maintaining a human touch through our in-store teams, who are seeing their workspaces modernised," explains Walériane Dubois-Decroix, spokesperson for Lidl Luxembourg, in the press release announcing this development for the brand. This coexistence of models highlights a key tension in the evolution of the retail sector. On the one hand, artificial intelligence helps to streamline the customer journey, reduce friction and optimise operations. On the other hand, retail remains a service-oriented sector where human connection continues to be a key differentiator, particularly in a market such as Luxembourg, which is characterised by a diverse customer base and varied expectations. Between smart checkouts and a deliberate return to human interaction, the food retail sector is entering a phase of transformation, where the challenges are no longer merely technological, but also social and strategic.

How is Ahold Delhaize modernising the checkout with Fiserv? April 08, 2026 Fiserv and Ahold Delhaize USA are rolling out Pay by Bank for online grocery orders, merging security, efficiency and flexibility in digital payments Ahold Delhaize USA has expanded its partnership with Fiserv to introduce a new digital payment option, Pay by Bank, for online grocery shoppers. This is the latest effort by the largest grocery retail group on the US East Coast - and the fourth largest in the country - to modernise its omnichannel infrastructure and provide customers with greater flexibility in how they pay. The feature, available across The GIANT Company, Giant Food and Stop & Shop e-commerce sites and mobile apps, allows customers to pay securely and directly from their bank accounts. Unlike card-based transactions, Pay by Bank eliminates the need to enter or store card details, offering customers a streamlined and secure payment journey. Since its late 2025 pilot, Ahold Delhaize USA says that "tens of thousands of customers have enrolled" in the new service. This is an early indicator that US consumers are increasingly receptive to account-linked digital payments. "Expanding digital payment choice is an example of how we continue to enhance our omnichannel platform, which in turn enables Ahold Delhaize USA brands to better serve their customers," says Keith Nicks, Chief Commercial and Digital Officer of Ahold Delhaize USA. "Pay by Bank provides a simple way for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts, creating a seamless checkout experience and increased choice for the customer in terms of how they prefer to pay." The Ahold delhaize-fiserv partnership. The partnership leverages Fiserv's embedded finance expertise, integrating directly into Ahold Delhaize's proprietary digital platform, rather than using a third-party wallet or intermediary. This is both a new inroad into the US grocery market and a strong proof point for Pay by Bank's commercial adaptability for Fiserv. "Adding Pay by Bank is more than introducing a new tender type - it reflects our commitment to strengthening the omnichannel platforms behind everyday commerce," says Lia Cao, Chief Revenue Officer, Enterprise and Platform Clients at Fiserv. "We are proud to support Ahold Delhaize USA with technology that simplifies payments operations, improves efficiency and helps drive long-term growth across their brands." Bank-based payments and the future of retail checkout. Pay by Bank is part of a broader fintech trend in retail: reducing friction and fees associated with cards while improving trust through direct authentication. Consumers can link a checking account via secure verification - often using open banking protocols - and authorise payments instantly without manually entering credentials at checkout. For enterprises, the approach brings measurable advantages. Direct bank transfers can reduce processing costs, minimise fraud exposure and shorten settlement times compared with card payments. The model also delivers stronger data control, as transactions are authenticated directly between consumer and bank. In the UK and Europe, Pay by Bank adoption has accelerated under open banking regulations. It's a different story in the US, however. Rollout has been slower - but large retail use cases like Ahold Delhaize's show that there is a more established and growing readiness. Ahold Delhaize's omnichannel strategy. As well as improving operations for customers and enterprises alike, the initiative also reinforces Ahold Delhaize USA's wider omnichannel evolution. As its family of brands - which includes Food Lion and Hannaford on top of Giant Food, The GIANT Company and Stop & Shop - form the largest grocery retail group on the US East Coast and the fourth largest nationally, working with Fiserv gives Ahold Delhaize tighter control over payment data and performance metrics. This is a shift toward a platform economy model where payment functionality becomes a strategic differentiator rather than a back-end service. In coming months, Ahold Delhaize USA says it will "continue to build and enhance its omnichannel platform to improve and expand the user experience". Executives. * Keith Nicks EVP, Chief Digital & Commercial Officer * Lia Cao Chief Revenue Officer, Enterprise & Platforms Company portals.

Ahold Delhaize USA debuts employee app. ADUSA Connect provides the grocer's staff with key resources and an "internal social wall" where colleagues can make posts and interact. Published April 3, 2026 Dive brief: * Ahold Delhaize USA has launched a new app for its associates called ADUSA Connect, the grocery company confirmed in a Thursday email to Grocery Dive. * The app provides its workers with curated news, organization-specific links and associate resource offerings. It also works as an "internal social wall" where staffers can interact with each other's posts. * More grocers are launching employee apps to improve internal communications and streamline training. Dive insight: Ahold Delhaize launched the app to improve the employee experience as well as strengthen cross-functional collaboration, the company wrote in a Thursday LinkedIn post. The app "is an exciting step forward in delivering a modern, omnichannel associate experience that allows associates to choose how they consume information. The app reinforces our commitment to communication and collaboration as we continue to enhance the connected and engaged culture we have at Ahold Delhaize USA," Christy Phillips-Brown, ADUSA's vice president of communications and omnichannel service center, said in a statement. Along with delivering important updates and resources to employees, the app also lets staffers share photos and make local updates that their co-workers can then comment on and react to. Currently, ADUSA Connect is only available to Ahold Delhaize USA Services associates, according to the grocer. Other grocers have launched similar employee apps. Earlier this year at the National Retailer Federation's Big Show in New York City, Kroger detailed Sage, its virtual AI assistant for store-level staffers that provides them with a single point of access to check their shift schedule, request time off, set shift availability and view their pay stubs. Similarly, Hy-Vee, through a partnership with Workday, developed a mobile app that lets its staffers access important information, such as payroll, noting at NRF that this app replaced what it called a previously "fragmented" system. Meanwhile, Sprouts' new employee app gamifies training by giving its workers "bite-sized" training content. The specialty grocer has seen a 93% to 94% utilization rate, an executive for the company said at NRF.