Lidl has “officially” become Britain’s fifth-largest supermarket, overtaking Morrisons. The discounter now holds an 8.6% market share, according to the latest Worldpanel data.
Sales rose 8.8% in the 12 weeks to 17 May, and the company benefitted by £661 million as customers switched over from competitors.
Ryan McDonnell, CEO of Lidl GB, described becoming Britain’s fifth-largest supermarket as a “significant milestone.” He said: “As customer expectations shift, households are looking for value they can rely on without compromising on quality, and we remain laser-focused on delivering exactly that.
“Achieving this is a testament to the dedication of our colleagues, whose hard work delivers for our customers every single day. As we move forward with our ambitious expansion plans, we’ll bring great value and quality products to even more communities across Great Britain.”
Shifting grocery landscape
The ‘Big Four’ UK supermarkets traditionally included Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – but this hierarchy has been disrupted by the arrival of German supermarkets on the UK grocery scene. Aldi is currently the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket, with roughly 10% marketshare.
Tesco continues to dominate with over 28% market share. Sainsbury’s is on nearly 16%, with Asda – which, like Morrisons, has struggled to compete with the low cost German supermarkets – on around 11-14%.
Both Aldi and Lidl have benefited from changing consumer behaviour as a result of ongoing cost-of-living pressures. This has also seen supermarket own-brands hitting 52% of total UK grocery market volumes as consumers prioritise value ahead of more expensive branded products.
Loyalty scheme = growth driver
Lidl Plus – the company’s loyalty scheme – has proved to be a very successful growth driver for the company. Boasting roughly 11 million users, it is the fourth most popular loyalty scheme in the UK – although it recently faced criticism when users complained that its new Points Plus scheme was less generous than the previous scheme.
With cost-of-living pressures showing little sign of easing as consumers continue to belt-tighten, and ambitious plans to expand further within the UK, Lidl – and its rival Aldi – could be looking at further growth over the coming months.
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