UK National Lottery operator Camelot has sealed a deal with supermarket chain Aldi to bring National Lottery games to all of its 900 stores across the United Kingdom for the first time.
From next month, Aldi will be rolling out the National Lottery’s full raft of draw-based games at its checkouts, allowing customers to purchase tickets when doing their food shop.
Lotto, EuroMillions, Lotto HotPicks, EuroMillions HotPicks, Set For Life and Thunderball games will be available at its checkouts.
The launch across the UK follows a successful trial in the north of England, with all Aldi supermarkets set to start selling the lottery at checkouts by the end of June.
Richard Thornton, Communications Director at Aldi, said: “Customers will now be able to enter The National Lottery while doing their weekly Aldi shop. We hope to hand out some winning numbers to lucky customers across the country.”
The National Lottery generates more than £30m, on average, each week for good causes and projects, money which goes towards supporting everything from food banks and repairing local Scout huts, to helping the Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Jenny Blogg, Retail Director at Camelot, added: “We’re absolutely delighted to now be working with Aldi. Making The National Lottery available in its stores has been a priority for us as we continue to make playing The National Lottery as convenient and easy as possible for people, wherever and however they shop.
“We’re pleased that Aldi customers will now have a quick, easy and convenient way to purchase their favourite National Lottery games, while at the same time contributing to the £30m that goes to National Lottery Good Causes each and every week. We certainly hope there’ll be plenty of lucky tickets bought in Aldi stores across the UK.”
Analysis: While Camelot’s successful entry into the UK’s 900 Aldi stores is likely to be welcomed by shoppers as a convenient way to participate in the National Lottery, the real story here is the political gain for the operator.
As the bidding war for the next National Lottery licence gains momentum, adding 900 new outlets to its estate will send out a clear signal to rival bidders and the UK Gambling Commission that Camelot is still pursuing growth. Of equal importance is the fact that the operator appears committed to its retail grassroots.