New data by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel has highlighted that Lidl has become as popular with shoppers in Scotland as competitor Sainsbury's, with only Tesco and Asda attracting more customers than the German discounter.
The Scotsman reported that Lidl and German rival Aldi have a combined overall share of 10.1 per cent of total spendings in supermarkets across Scotland.
The data by Kantar Worldpanel also showed that the 'big four' retailers - Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's - lost a total of £70 million to discounter Aldi in 2014.
Leigh Sparks, professor of retail studies at Stirling University, said that both discounters managed to portray themselves to shoppers as "local stores" despite their German roots.
"They have focused on trying to be local" Sparks told The Scotsman. "They have ensured a lot of their food is scottish - they have stocked local produce and worked on being a local store and that goes down well in Scotland particularly."
"The difference about Scotland is also that it is centered around a fairly concentrated geographical area of the central belt and two or three other big ivies, which means that a lot of pole are exposed to a Lidl or Aldi store as they have expanded."
Mark Thosmon, business unit director for Kantar Worldpanel in Scotland, said, "Our research shows that the demographic of an Aldi or Lidl shopper is just as close to the average as Tesco and Morrisons at the moment."
