Aldi Süd has added Alipay to its bouquet of various mobile payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Sodexo Benefits Pass.
The retailer added that it is a first for a grocery retailer in Germany to offer the Ant Group's popular online payment system.
The initiative aims to make payments shopping easy for customers, which also includes quick and uncomplicated checkout processing.
Aldi Süd rolled out Alipay's popular QR code payment method at the end of August. The technology used in Alipay combines many added values that have already made it very successful in China.
Alipay Payment Platform
With over a billion users, Alipay is a leading payment platform in the country, which allows users to manage almost all kinds of payments, from paying electricity bills to ordering groceries.
The introduction of Alipay will offer Chinese tourists and Chinese nationals living in Germany a convenient and familiar payment option.
A prerequisite for using is an Alipay account, which can be created with a Chinese bank account or an international bank card.
Payments are processed by activating the EC terminal at the cashier and using a QR code from the users smartphone.
Contactless Payment
Aldi Süd has been offering customers the option of conveniently paying for their purchase in a contactless manner since 2015.
At the end of 2015, the retailer introduced contactless payments for VISA, VPAY, Mastercard and Maestro. Girocard and AMEX followed at the beginning of 2017.
During the coronavirus crisis, cashless and contactless payments gained popularity among customers, and the retailer contributed to safety protocols by minimizing contact.
The pandemic has shown that customers are ready to adjust their payment behaviour, the retailer noted and added that the trend towards card payments at Aldi Süd is clearly increasing compared to the time before the pandemic.
In 2019, Germany's REWE Group introduced Alipay in Billa, Merkur, and Bipa stores in Austria.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Technology news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
