Aldi has announced it will be bringing its click & collect service to an end, with Sunday, August 18 being the last day for it.

It was initially launched back in September 2020 and by 2021 it was being offered in more than 200 stores around the UK.

At the time of writing, it remains available in 174 of Aldi's stores but will come to its conclusion by the end of the week.

The click & collect service has involved customers paying £4.99 to have their online shopping brought to them in the car park by a store worker within a scheduled time slot, The Grocer reports.

Aldi said the trial had remained under constant review throughout its four years, and ending it will give staff more time to assist customers in store instead of picking online orders.

A spokesman said: “At Aldi, our focus is on providing customers with high-quality products at the lowest possible prices.

“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 & collect service to an end so we can focus on doing just that.”

Click & Collect becomes latest service Aldi has withdrawn

The conclusion of the click & collect service will end the final element of online shopping offered by Aldi.

Last year, it withdrew home delivery of general merchandise and wines & spirits, a service it launched in 2015, and in 2022 it ended a two-partnership with Deliveroo involving 130 stores.

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The Grocer adds: "Aldi is investing over £380m in lowering prices this year, including weekly rounds of cuts.

"It has also been fighting back against the limited price-matching schemes of the traditional big four supermarkets with a TV, print and online advertising campaign mocking the schemes."

Aldi is also working to open a store per week on average for the remainder of this year, building on the more than 1,020 it currently has across the UK.