Lidl has shut down its original customer app, which it used to showcase weekly offers and a digital version of its in-store leaflet.
The discounter is now directing users to switch to its rewards app, called Lidl Plus, which launched in 2020 and has grown to become Britain’s fourth favourite retailer loyalty scheme after Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and Asda’s [NIQ Homescan April 2024].
As of last month, users opening the old app are greeted with a message saying: “The Lidl app is no longer supported. Please switch to the Lidl Plus app for greater savings and super perks.”
Lidl has been the fastest-growing bricks & mortar supermarket for 12 months in a row, according to Kantar, boosting its market share to 8.1% in the 12 weeks to 4 August, up from 7.7% a year earlier. The Lidl Plus app, which offers personalised discounts with each shop along with occasional freebies and other prizes, has been credited by analysts with helping fuel its recent growth.
Lidl has been linking the loyalty app with its bakeries – another driver of sales growth for the supermarket and a differentiating offer in the discounter landscape – by giving away regular free items to members. Lidl’s bakery market share in the 12 weeks to 4 August was 15.6%, having shot from 10.6% since January 2023. It puts Lidl second only to Tesco in the category, according to Kantar.
The older app, which was released in 2013, was also popular, having been downloaded more than 50 million times from the Google Play Store alone.
Lidl said the older app had provided details on offers and products along with store information. Since all this information was also available on the Lidl Plus app, the decision had been taken to archive the older app to make things simpler and more streamlined for customers, it said.
In July, the discounter also switched users of its network of electric vehicle charging points in its car parks onto its loyalty app, by integrating payment into Lidl Plus instead of the Pod Point app used previously.
No comments yet