M RahmanCompetitors of Lidl (competitor analysis)
This article offers a detailed analysis of the competitors of Lidl. Lidl is a popular grocery retailer in Europe. It was founded in Germany in 1973. Its first store in the UK opened in 1994. It currently operates in 32 countries. It has many stores in several states across the USA (Lidl, 2022).
Competitors of Lidl in the UK
In the United Kingdom, Lidl is a major grocery retailer. Its nearest competitors are Co-op, Waitrose, and Aldi in terms of market share. However, Waitrose is usually perceived as catering to up markets. The market leader is Tesco with over 27% of market share (Kantar, 2022). Other big competitors are Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons.
Though Tesco is the market leader in the UK, Lidl operates in more countries than Tesco. On the same grounds, Lidl is ahead of Sainsbury’s, however, it is well behind of Co-op which operates in more than 100 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
Lidl is expanding rapidly because it sees a growing demand for grocery shopping from people who prefer to buy food items at discount prices without compromising quality or freshness. It has a sophisticated supply chain management system that enables it to offer low prices while providing customers with high quality products.
Competitors of Lidl in Germany
Lidl is a very popular discounter in Germany. It is in fact one of the top three discounter supermarkets in the country, with the other two being Aldi and Netto (Koptyug, 2021). Most of Lidl customers shop regularly at the retailer with over 60% in fact visiting it several times a week. The market share of both Lidl and Aldi has grown continuously in the last many years in the country.
Competitors of Lidl in the USA
Lidl has been gaining in popularity in the United States for quite some time. It is planning on opening more stores as it continues its expansion into the country. Many customers love its produce, bakery items, dairy products, frozen foods, and household items.
Lidl competes with several powerful brands in the USA e.g. Amazon Fresh, H-E-B, Wal-Mart, Aldi, Costco, Target, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Publix Super Markets, Fareway Stores, and Sam’s Club.
Wal-Mart offers a huge variety of products at retail prices that can be hard to beat. It, like Lidl, is a discount store with locations across the United States. It offers a variety of household items and electronics as well as general grocery items.
Aldi is another German based retailer that has stores across Europe and the United States. It offers low prices on groceries with a focus on quality over quantity. Costco is another major player in the grocery industry with warehouse clubs located in many countries throughout North America and Europe.
Competitors of Lidl in France
The grocery market in France is dominated by the Leclerc Group and Carrefour group, who fight neck to neck for the lead position. Lidl is doing very well too; however, it is well behind the top ones in the market.
France is one of the world’s leading countries in the grocery sector. French consumers are becoming more health conscious and are increasingly willing to pay higher prices for organic foods or products with less packaging. This puts Lidl under pressure as its focus on low pricing may not convince some of those customers unless it offers more organic and eco-friendly products.
Gist of Lidl competitor analysis
Lidl has had a lot of success in the marketplace and is poised to continue growing with its offerings. However, there are many competitors that it will have to contend with as it expands its operations in the countries like the UK, Germany, and the USA.
Lidl completes very closely with Aldi in several markets as both are well-known as discounters. It is very difficult for customers to differentiate between the two. Both offer affordable prices while not compromising with the quality.
Lidl’s strategy is simple i.e. selling good quality products at low prices. Some of its products are often half the price of other stores. However, again the challenge is the same strategy is adopted by Aldi as well making it difficult for Lidl to gain competitive advantage over it.
Though Tesco and Asda are Lidl’s competitors in the UK and some other countries, the key issue is that most customers do not see them as discounters. This is in fact a positive thing for Lidl. Likewise, Waitrose caters to up markets in the UK. Therefore, though Lidl competes with it for the market share, many customers do not see it as Lidl’s competitor.
Conclusion
Lidl is rapidly expanding across Europe, and even America. Now that it has gone global, it faces competition from other European brands like Aldi, Carrefour, Tesco, and Netto. Walmart, and Amazon are also putting a lot of pressure on it. However, the German retailer has made it past some its competitors by offering amazing value for the customers while not compromising with quality.
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Last update: 20 February 2022
References:
Kantar (2022) Grocery market share, available at: https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/en/grocery-market-share/great-britain (accessed 20 February 2022)
Koptyug, E. (2021) Lidl customers in Germany – statistics & facts, available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/7458/lidl-customers-in-germany/#dossierKeyfigures (accessed 18 February 2022)
Lidl (2022) About us: available at: https://www.lidl.com/about-us (accessed 20 February 2022)
Author: M Rahman
M Rahman writes extensively online and offline with an emphasis on business management, marketing, and tourism. He is a lecturer in Management and Marketing. He holds an MSc in Tourism & Hospitality from the University of Sunderland. Also, graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Business & Management Studies and completed a DTLLS (Diploma in Teaching in the Life-Long Learning Sector) from London South Bank University.
