A critically acclaimed Christmas ad. A Christmas catalogue that wouldn’t look out of place from Harrods. These are merely the finishing touches to a huge year for Lidl and its UK MD Ronny Gottschlich.
Lidl started its reset proper in 2010 when Gottschlich took the helm (he was Lidl’s third UK MD after a choppy two-year spell), and he’s slowly evolved it from a scruffy discounter with unfamiliar ranges to a middle class favourite that’s the fastest growing supermarket in the UK.
This year he scooped the coveted Grocer Gold for Grocer of the Year (won in 2013 and 2014 by arch rival Aldi). And as of the last two months, Lidl is outpacing Aldi when it comes to sales. Aldi still has a larger market share (5.6% to Lidl’s 4.4%, both jumped up 0.7ppts in 2015), but Lidl is growing sales at 17.9% compared with Aldi’s 15.4% [Kantar 12 w/e 6 December].
Nothing personifies the reset more than the gleaming £2m 14,000 sq ft store it opened in Rushden, Northamptonshire, in November. As the blueprint for all future stores, it’s larger, with wider aisles and longer tills (allowing customers the luxury of packing at the checkout). It also features customer toilets, baby change facilities and self-checkouts. They join recent additions like in-store bakeries and a superb wine range (brilliantly executed). All things UK shoppers take for granted, but all lacking at Lidl until recently.
Indeed Shore Capital analyst Clive Black went so far as to declare Lidl “demonstrably more potent as a single shop destination” than Aldi. As a statement of intent, then, Lidl’s new store concept is a scary prospect for the big four (especially since it wants to open at least 40 a year). And unlike Aldi, Lidl is focusing its expansion on the affluent South East. Sainsbury’s beware.
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