Analysts Verdict Retail have said that Aldi is now ‘an established and mature market player’ in the UK market, and is no longer the ‘incumbent market disruptor’ of a few years ago.
Commenting on the back of results that showed sales of £7.7 billion in Aldi UK’s most recent financial year, and an operating profit of £255.6 million (a 1.8% decline year on year), Verdict’s Greg Bromley said the discounter is still the envy of its rivals.
“As rival Lidl has continued to make progress, and the Big Four have shown signs of recovery, Aldi has begun to diversify over the past year to sustain interest in its proposition,” he said.
“This has included an expansion of its premium tier Specially Selected products (sales increased by 20% in 2015), while it has increased British sourcing across fresh produce as it seeks to reassure consumers of the quality and provenance of its offer.”
Bromley noted that Aldi’s decision to invest margin to maintain its price advantage could impact its profitability in the coming years, “as the UK food and grocery market shows no signs of becoming less competitive, and rivals such as Morrisons and Asda roll out waves of new price cuts.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
