The British arm of German discounter Lidl said on Friday its sales rose 8% year-on-year in the six weeks to Dec. 30, boosted by strong demand for its premium products.
Lidl UK said sales of its premium Deluxe range were up 33% year-on-year.
Industry data has shown Lidl, and discounter rival Aldi , continued to win market share from Britain's biggest supermarket groups over the Christmas period.
According to the most recent Kantar Worldpanel market share figures, for the 12-week period to 30 December, more than two-thirds of shoppers visited a Lidl or Aldi in the run up to Christmas, with Lidl sitting on 5.4% market share.
Analyst Comment
“I’m not surprised by Lidl’s results – they’ve recognised that just because shoppers want things cheap, they don’t want cheap tasting food," commented Martin Lane, Managing Editor of money.co.uk. "Consumers want to eat healthily and feel sophisticated, but they don’t want to have to fork out for it. By upping their offerings to include things you might only expect in deluxe stores they've bridged the gap and stolen custom from the likes of Waitrose and M&S.
“Our palate’s have become increasingly more sophisticated in this country – the world's a smaller place and with more us travelling abroad and experiencing other nations delicacies, the demand for exotic and exciting foods is higher than ever. Lidl has managed to deliver without the expensive price tag.”
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
