Italy: Discounters want city centers but Lidl accelerates
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Italy: Discounters want city centers but Lidl accelerates

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Italy will open its first store closer to a city center between the end of October-the beginning of November in Via Solari, in Milan. Also in the Lombard capital, further openings are planned in similar areas throughout 2026 and a similar expansion will take place in Rome, where the discount brand is currently present in a central area such as via Lega Lombarda. At the same time, it will continue in the same direction in urban hubs of different sizes, compared to Milan and Rome, ranging from Genoa to Bari, from Naples to Turin. Directly inside the stores, however, the German large-scale retail group has decided to expand the assortment again by strengthening some product categories. Through its private labels, it will focus among others on vegan products under the Vemondo brand, on regional specialties and even on non-food references between the sport of the Crivit brand and the do-it-yourself of Parkside.


The discount store is no longer just convenience

The broader commercial strategy, in which to include these initiatives, is that "we try to reach new customer groups by going beyond the classic concept of discounters. Convenience remains the focus but, today, the consumer frequents several stores of different types for various reasons. The convenience of a local store or the search for sustainable products can intervene in his choice of visit," Gianfranco Brunetti, CEO of the customer area of Lidl Italia, explains to ItaliaOggi. "It is in this perspective that our first international branding campaign Lidl is really worth, just launched, should be interpreted. It is a communication plan that means that our offer is complete at 360°: it does not only take into account convenience but, precisely, also respect for the environment or made in Italy productions». Moreover, Lidl's communication strategy pushes on the general values of the brand after having addressed individual issues with other previous and recent initiatives, such as the summer one on fruit and vegetables with the ironic title Il vero fruto del amor or having presided over social networks such as Instagram and TikTok (the latter together with rapper and artist Myss Keta).


At the discount store even 3 times a week

It is true that other discounters have already started the phase in which they want to build customer loyalty by filling the traditional concept of discount=savings with values, but now perhaps the most surprising fact is that Italians already go to this type of store for many other reasons. To confirm this, there is a frequency of visits that, on average, reaches 2-3 weekly expenses compared to the initial one only once, to do the so-called big shopping. Starting from this information, therefore, "we process in particular the sales data that come from the more than 7 million subscribers to our Lidl Plus loyalty card," Brunetti points out. "Among the evidences there is both the importance of fresh products and the rotisserie corner, confirming general market trends, and that of our private label which covers 80% of the offer with 3,500 references. The remaining 20% guaranteed by the brands completes the offer", chosen by customers in detail also to treat themselves with a snack or in the choice of pasta or carbonated drinks. The presence of well-known brands has something comforting for the customer, even if private label is now liked not only for its convenience but also because it has been able to build customer loyalty, according to the CEO of the customer area of Lidl Italy.


Lidl Italia's goals

Operationally, the group confirms its goal of reaching one thousand stores in Italy by 2030, with an average of 50 openings per year, and the current expansion trajectory is aimed precisely at urban centers. But will retail and assortment expansion be supported by new formats, perhaps non-food, or by the acquisition of manufacturing companies, moving up the supply chain as in the case of New Princes, which recently bought Carrefour's Italian activities? "At the moment, the store formats remain the current ones and the group experimentation of a non-food store only remains a single test. There are no acquisitions of manufacturing companies from the Peninsula on the agenda, also because this is already happening at the level of the international network for synergistic reasons. We do not exclude, however, the acquisition of stores from other networks," concludes Gianfranco Brunetti.



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