Discounter Lidl is aiming to open 50 new stores a year in France by 2022, following its busiest year for new store openings in the country.
According to Capital.fr, last year, the retailer opened close to 50 stores, including the renovation of 16 former Casino outlets and 17 former Leader Price stores.
Since 2012, Lidl has invested €4.5 billion in France in expansing its store network, an investment that has paid off – it broke the 6% market share mark in 2019 for the first time, and finished the year with 6.2% of the market, according to Kantar.
Between 2010 and 2018, the discounter saw its French turnover increase by 4.5%.
Investing Heavily
According to Accenture partner Laurent Thoumine, who was quoted by Capital.fr, "Lidl has been investing heavily in advertising for three years to improve its brand image. It has paid off. Consumers are proud to go to Lidl today, which was not the case five years ago."
The current market leader in France is E.Leclerc, which held 21.6% of the market as of the end of November, ahead of Carrefour on 19.8% and Intermarché on 15.3%.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
