Poland: Lidl and Biedronka enter the Pepco and Action area
Discount Retail Chain Lidl and Biedronka are increasingly boldly going beyond food and reaching for money that has so far gone to specialist stores. Tools, power tools, small household appliances, clothing, toys or home furnishings are not only to be an addition to grocery shopping. Vitaly Vladykin, Senior Research Manager at Euromonitor International, points out that the development of non-food allows chains to look for additional sources of sales and margin growth and increase the value of the basket.
Non-food has become an important part of the discount strategy, and in addition to food, the chains are developing, among m.in, a range of tools, household appliances, home furnishings, garden equipment, clothing, toys and seasonal products.
Discounters are fighting for expenses outside the everyday food basket – they compete not only with each other, but also with Pepco, Action, Sinsay or e-commerce platforms.
The boundaries between retail formats are increasingly blurred – although food remains the basis of the discount model, customers are increasingly choosing where to buy primarily based on price, quality and availability of the product.
Discount no longer only on food
A few years ago, non-food products in discount stores could be treated as an addition to the basic offer. Today, it is difficult to talk about such a marginal importance of this category. Tools, household appliances, textiles, home products, toys, clothing and seasonal items have become a permanent element of the strategy of many chains.
The mechanism is simple. Food is supposed to attract customers to the store, and the non-food offer gives them another reason to buy. By the way, the value of the basket increases.
"The expansion of the range of non-food products by food discounters is largely a response to the current market conditions. In the first half of 2026, price deflation was recorded in many food categories, which put upward pressure on sales value growth and made it difficult for retailers to generate revenue solely through their core food business," says Vitaly Vladykin, Senior Research Manager at Euromonitor International.
As the expert adds, food remains the main factor generating traffic in stores, but chains are increasingly looking for additional sources of sales and margin growth, as well as opportunities to increase the value of the basket.
Tools, Home & Garden
One of the most prominent examples of non-food development is the tools and equipment of the workshop. Lidl has been developing the Parkside brand for years, and products in this category appear both in stores and online. Drills, power tools, wrench sets, pressure washers or garden equipment are no longer a surprise for customers at a discount store.
A similar direction can be seen in small household appliances and home furnishings. Fat-free fryers, blenders, food processors, coffee machines, vacuum cleaners or home care devices are part of an increasingly wide range of discount chains.
Extensive non-food campaigns are also run by other chains, and individual categories appear depending on the season. In spring, garden products are more prominent, in summer tourist supplies, in autumn home furnishings, and before Christmas, toys, decorations and electronic equipment.
Thanks to this, the discounter can change its offer many times during the year and try to take over some of the expenses that the customer previously planned to make in another store.
The discount store no longer competes only with another discount store
The development of non-food is also changing the competitive system. A grocery discount store does not compete only with another grocery store. It also fights for customers with chains specializing in non-food products.
"Non-food products can help discounters increase sales and margins, but they also allow them to compete for spending that could otherwise go to value-oriented non-food retailers such as Action, Pepco, TEDi, KiK, Dealz or Sinsay," points out Vitaly Vladykin.
However, the list of competitors does not end there. Online platforms are playing an increasingly important role. Today, consumers can compare prices and buy household goods, decorations, accessories, toys or clothing without leaving home.
"Consumers are increasingly buying these products on Chinese online platforms such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress. As a result, discounters are trying to get a larger share of expenses beyond everyday grocery shopping – adds the expert.
Price is not everything. Availability matters
The advantage of a discount store in this case is not only the price. The customer can see the product during routine grocery shopping and buy it right away, without additional searching on the Internet or visiting a trade store.
This is especially important for products whose purchase is not always planned in advance. The newsletter contains information about a promotion for power tools, kitchen accessories or garden equipment and the customer can decide to buy it on the occasion of their weekly shopping.
"The goal is not only to attract more customers, but also to give existing customers more reasons to spend money once they are in the store," explains Vladykin.
In this way, the non-food offer becomes a tool for increasing the value of the basket. A discount store uses an existing chain of stores, customer traffic and purchasing power, instead of building a separate specialized format from scratch.
The boundary between formats is becoming less and less obvious
Does this mean that grocery discounters are becoming universal stores? According to the expert, we should not talk about a fundamental change in the model.
"I would not necessarily see the expansion of the range of non-food products as a fundamental change in the traditional model of food discounters. Rather, it reflects the way in which discounters are constantly adapting their assortment to current consumer expectations and to the growing competition in the entire retail sector," says Vitaly Vladykin.
Food still remains the basis of the model. At the same time, customers are becoming less and less attached to a specific type of store. If they find a product at an attractive price in a discount store and consider its quality to be sufficient, they will not always have the need to visit a specialist store.
"Consumers are increasingly inclined to buy products from categories such as household goods, toys or clothing wherever they can find the right price and acceptable quality, regardless of the retail format," notes the expert.
Specialists still have their advantages
However, the development of non-food in discount stores does not automatically mean the disappearance of specialist stores. In many categories, the breadth of the offer, specialist knowledge, the ability to choose from many variants or access to products from higher price segments are still important.
A discount store may offer the customer one or several attractively priced proposals. A specialist often gives a much larger choice within one category.
"While grocery discounters are likely to gain an increasing share of spending in some non-food categories, non-food retailers can still stand out with a wider range, greater industry knowledge, and a richer offering in their core categories," Vladykin points out.
For commerce, this means, above all, further blurring of the boundaries between formats. The customer does not necessarily think about whether he enters a grocery discount store or a non-food store. More and more often, he looks at three things: price, availability, and whether the product suits his needs.
For grocery chains, this means that the fight for the customer's wallet does not end on the food shelf. Non-food is becoming another field of competition – and one of the elements that can determine how much a customer will leave at the checkout.
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