Sainsbury’s has expanded its Aldi Price Match campaign with its ‘biggest ever’ value offering, passing on price cuts to customers as inflation begins to slow. The supermarket chain has added over 40 new items to the Aldi cost-saving initiative, which now includes 400 products in total. New additions include a range of Sainsbury’s soups, burger buns and bread, as well as sweet treats like Bramley Apple Pies. With the price of butter continuing to come down, the retailer has cut the price of its by Sainsbury’s British Butter 250g by 10% since May – now £1.79. Nectar Prices – which has saved customers over £244m since it launched in April – is also available on frozen foods for the first time. Furthermore, Sainsbury’s revealed that it’s expanding its Pocket Friendly Prices campaign to 55 products across most of its convenience stores. Chief executive of Sainsbury’s Simon Roberts said: “We’re continuing to do all we can to battle inflation and as costs fall, so do our prices. “We’re passing savings on as fast as we can, wherever we can, so that customers get the very best prices when they shop with us.” He added: “With our biggest ever Aldi Price Match and Nectar Prices campaigns, whatever you’re shopping for you will always be getting great value at Sainsbury’s.” Earlier this year, the grocery giant launched Stamford Street, a new brand for all of its entry price point products. Source: Grocery Gazette #smartdiscount #sainsbury #aldi #aldipricematch #pricematch #lidl #ukretail #supermarkets #competition #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting

The American Innovation Index, based on research from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and others, listed the Trader Joe's as the fourth-most innovative company overall. Trader Joe’s, known for its swift cadence of new products and novel flavors, is the country’s most innovative grocery retailer, according to the sixth-annual American Innovation Index (AII), which was released last week. The index is based upon consumer perceptions, from research conducted by Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, Rockbridge Associates and the Norwegian School of Economics. Monrovia, California-based Trader Joe’s came out not only as the most innovative grocer, but also the fourth-most innovative company nationwide, behind Toyota, Apple and Louis Vuitton. “Trader Joe’s is extremely popular with consumers and has established itself as a brand known for creative snack combinations and regular new product drops, potentially aiding in how consumers view its innovation,” researchers said in a statement. “The AII’s research has found that companies that engage in positive innovation are perceived as more attractive and rewarded with greater loyalty from their customers.” Trader Joe’s came in far ahead of other food retailers in terms of innovation, when compared to all other companies surveyed. Amazon, which does much more than sell food, ranked No. 8. And Costco rounded out the Top 10. Next on the food retailers list was Whole Foods Market at No. 37, followed by Aldi at No. 54. Also on the list was Kroger (142), CVS (144), Walgreens (150), Albertsons (161), Safeway (175), Ahold Delhaize (182) and Rite Aid (184). Following Trader Joe’s on the overall list of innovative companies is John Deere, Ikea, Honda, Amazon, Bath and Body Works, and Costco. The survey analyzed a company’s “Social Innovation Index,” defined as an innovation that benefits society and the environment based on the experiences of customers, the researchers noted. “This study captures social innovation from the most important stakeholder of a firm, the customer,” Charles Colby, chief methodologist at Rockbridge Associates said in a statement. “This customer viewpoint is a better predictor of loyalty and company performance than metrics provided by outside experts.” It is somewhat remarkable that Trader Joe’s is considered by shoppers to be on the cutting edge of innovation. The grocer recently shot down rumors that it would install self-service checkout lanes and has also said that it will never offer delivery or enlist robots to take inventory. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Jon Basalone, Trader Joe’s president and vice-CEO said during the grocer’s podcast earlier this month. “But we’re going to grow. And so the newness comes from the new customers we’re going to be able to reach, the new products that we’re going to see on our shelves, the new opportunities for the crew members who get promoted and get to run those stores into the future … That’s where the excitement comes from. You know, it’s not crazy new ideas like the robot in the aisle that answers questions and helps to clean up spills. It’s simpler than that and actually more exciting than that because of that reason.” Source: Grocery Business #smartdiscount #traderjoes #innovation #innovative #americaninnovationindex #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Kosovo (owned by the German Schwarz Group) is starting to recruit staff for its upcoming stores in the country, an official of the Kosovo unit of Albanian human resources (HR) services provider The Headhunter Group said. New job opportunities for Lidl discount retail stores are now open, a recruitment operations manager of The Headhunter Group, Lidl's local recruitment partner, said in a social media post. Lidl committed to opening retail stores in Kosovo last year in June, after meeting local food and beverage producers, the enterprise ministry said at the time. The discounter filed in Kosovo’s business register under the name Lidl Kosova L.L.C. and its business scope involves real estate asset management. Kosovo will be one of the last countries Lidl enters in Europe, together with next door country Albania. After its go-to-market in Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo is the second Islamic oriented country Lidl enters. Read more: Lidl starts recruitment for Kosovo business (seenews.com)

Discount Retail Chain BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. (listed BIST: BIMAS) posted TL 57.88 billion sales revenue and TL 2.85 billion net profit in the second quarter. BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2023 to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). Accordingly, BİM achieved a net profit of 2.85 billion TL in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year. The company's profit in the same period last year was 1.68 billion TL. BİM Birleşik Mağazalar, which generated revenues of 57.88 billion TL in the second quarter, generated 34.14 TL in the same period last year. Bim's second quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBITDA) was 4.29 billion TL in line with expectations. EBITDA margin increased from 6.1 percent to 7.4 percent in the second quarter, while it was 5.0 percent in the first six months. In this quarter, BİM posted a gross profit of TL 10.7 billion, increasing its gross profit on a quarterly and annual basis. In this quarter, quarterly gross profit margin increased from 18.0 percent to 18.5 percent. According to the annual report, 89 per cent of BİM's second quarter sales came from BİM Türkiye while 5.5 per cent came from File, 4.3 per cent from BİM Morocco and 0.9 per cent from BİM Egypt. Read more: BİM announces 2023 Q2 financial results (ortakalan.org)

Discount Retail Chain Lidl, Aldi and others browse smaller footprints than their pricier competitors but it still has to be busy outside. Cheap sells, at least at the grocery store. Discount chains such as German-born Lidl and Aldi, as well as US domestic discount brands like Grocery Outlet and Dollar General, have been on an expansion clip as of late. The low-cost discount model that these retailers offer has become increasingly appealing, as inflation has made Americans more conscious of spending and their budgets. In the past year in the U.S., Aldi has opened or signed a lease for 117 locations totaling 1.97 million square feet, and is set to open 120 more this year, 60 of which it has already unveiled. Meanwhile, Lidl has opened or signed a lease for 19 locations totaling 566 thousand square feet, according to Brandon Svec, national director of U.S. retail analytics for CoStar (CSGP) Group. Some non-grocery stores are even dipping their toes in supermarket waters. Dollar General, albeit not exclusively a grocery store, has recently expanded its food offerings, with plans to open over 1,000 new locations in 2023, while Grocery Outlet opened 27 new locations in 2022 and plans to open at least 25 more in 2023. “What a lot of these discount grocers recognize is there’s just untapped market,” said Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing for foot traffic data provider Placer.ai. “There are a lot of people who are going to appreciate this specific offering. And so that’s what drove a lot of this expansion.” The discount grocers are not trying to expand into just any space, though. They tend to need fewer square feet or acres than a mainstream grocery store. A traditional grocery store would normally need to be built on around 5 acres of land, while one like Aldi only needs 2 or 3 acres, said Tim McNamara, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield (CWK), who has represented Aldi in New England and New York for the past 15 years. But even though discount grocers may be seeking smaller spaces, they aren’t aiming to be in no-man’s-land. “If you’re going grocery shopping, we want you to see us out the window to try us and think of us as an alternative. So we want to go where everyday grocery shopping is happening,” McNamara said. Other discounters, such as Dollar General, tend to go into less dense areas because of their smaller format and target demographic. Discount grocers, however, are generally looking to situate themselves in the middle of the market and “sticking to demographic drivers from a density and an income profile that look much more similar to what you see from regional and national grocers,” Svec said. “Bottom line, we look for convenient locations for our customers that can support a high-traffic volume daily,” Aldi divisional vice president Karla Waddleton said in a March Q&A with Chain Store Age. Lidl takes a very patient and disciplined approach to its real estate needs, but it’s one that hasn’t stopped its rapid expansion in recent years, according to a source who has brokered deals for the grocer. Once Lidl determines a neighborhood it wants to be in, it looks at various types of properties — including anchor spaces and traditional retail shopping centers — to lease up, while favoring mixed-use developments in cities, according to Lidl’s website. And its recent New York City leases show Lidl’s wide approach to retail locations. It took anchor space in a mixed-use project in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; stores in shopping centers in Fresh Meadows and Glen Oaks, Queens; a full floor in an Elmhurst, Queens mall; and storefronts at the base of residential developments in Park Slope, Brooklyn and Chelsea. The German grocery store first came to the U.S. in 2017 in Virginia and now has 170 locations spread throughout 5 million square feet, Svec said. All told, it has around 12,000 stores in 32 countries. So far, Lidl’s stores have been concentrated in the East Coast, but “there’s obviously a lot more room for Lidl to continue to grow and push that border westward,” Svec said. Lidl’s footprints tend to be between 30,000 to 40,000 square feet, which means it doesn’t face much competition when it comes to finding a space. “There’s just not as many retailers targeting 30,000 square feet and above spaces, or really 25,000,” Svec said. “Once you get above 25,000 square feet, your potential tenant demand pool thins out pretty substantially.” There can also be some benefits for landlords who lease to affordable grocery stores, leading them to actively seek out these retailers. For example, New York City’s Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program provides tax and zoning incentives when affordable and healthy food is brought to certain communities. It’s something Lidl’s landlords have taken advantage of. Back in May, Lidl signed on for 25,000 square feet at the base of the affordable housing development at 335 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. Securing Lidl was a win for developer MAG Partners, since a low-cost discount supermarket for the retail space was required as part of its approval process for the project. Unlike Lidl, Aldi is often not the anchor in a shopping center and, if it ever is, it tends to backfill a second-generation shopping center, McNamara said. Aldi, which is also German, opened its first store in the United States in 1976 and now operates 2,400 locations, with a total of 39 million square feet of retail space, according to Svec. It ranks as the fourth-largest grocery store by square footage in the country, behind Kroger, Albertsons and Publix, Svec said. It already has a wide spread around the country and recently kicked off a Sun Belt expansion by acquiring the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain, which has outposts in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. The deal, which is set to close in 2024, “supports our long-term growth strategy across the United States,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart said in a statement. Aldi’s locations are around 15,000 to 20,000 square feet, which put it in competition for space with off-price retailers, more traditional grocery stores, fitness tenants and some experiential retail, Svec said. Even without competition from other retailers, retail space is tight in the country, currently at a nearly 20-year low for available space, according to Svec. The nationwide availability rate for retail centers over 10,000 square feet is 4.6 percent with a grocer, 8.1 percent without a grocer and 7.5 percent with or without one, Svec said. Getting into tight markets such as New York City or Boston, where real estate is at a premium, has been a challenge for Aldi, McNamara said. Discount retailers’ profit margins are smaller than their mainstream counterparts because of their low-cost products. They therefore don’t have as much cash to spend on occupancy costs, so they are not able to compete for properties in those high-value markets, McNamara added. “We’re competing against other players that maybe pay a little bit more than we do,” he said. “Right now, real estate availability is difficult . . . the price of real estate has not dropped, despite some of the rockiness of the past decade.” But once discount grocers get over the barrier of finding a property, the customers start flowing. In November 2022, Lidl’s foot traffic increased year-over-year by 7.4 percent, while Aldi’s grew by 13.6 percent and Grocery Outlet’s by 18.8 percent, according to data provided to Commercial Observer by Placer.ai. That’s higher than the 3.1 percent increase in foot traffic seen nationwide by the grocery sector that month. “[Discount grocers] have, for the most part over the last few years, set the pace in the [foot traffic] sector,” Placer.ai’s Chernofsky said. “And it’s because of those expansions, but also because of the demand they’ve been able to tap into.” While Aldi and Lidl are both private companies, sales figures are not publicly available, so foot traffic is a strong indicator of how they’re doing. Grocery Outlet, however, is public, and its net sales topped $1 billion in the second quarter of this year, a first for the company, while it had a 9.2 percent increase in comparable store sales during that time. The success of discount grocers comes after the entire grocery industry had a very good pandemic. While the rest of retail took a major hit with an 8.7 percent decrease in sales from February to March 2020, the largest month-to-month decrease since the government started tracking the numbers in 1992, grocery stores saw the exact opposite. Supermarkets experienced a 26.9 percent increase in sales between February and March 2020 and a 29.3 percent increase in year-over-year sales during that time, according to the United States Census Bureau.. Even with their obvious successes and expansions, discount grocers haven’t been putting others through the meat grinder. “We’re not putting people out of business; we’re taking a chunk from everybody,” McNamara said. “Those grocers and [discount grocers] can typically coexist with each other.” Chernofsky said that customers aren’t necessarily replacing one grocer with another, but are doing parts of their shopping at different retailers. “There’s bits of the pie that are there for the taking,” he said. And others are trying to get some of those pieces, which is why Dollar General (DG) recently expanded its grocery offerings through a string of stores called DG Market and the timing could not be better. As prices skyrocket, Americans have started to pay more attention to spending, and shoppers have been trying to cut costs wherever they can. Grocery bills have been a popular option. “Given the strain of inflation, you will see Americans really willing to trade down for value, more so in this environment than at any point in time over the last couple of years,” Svec said. Generally, groceries are a regionally focused industry, with many grocers targeting individual states or regions where they can understand the supply chains. The discount grocers take a different approach and are able to reduce their costs in the process. They rely on private label brands, meaning, they have their own brand of products and mainly sell those (think Trader Joe’s) and display products exactly as they were delivered: in large boxes. They have customers bag their own groceries, leading to the hire of fewer employees, and therefore have less overhead, McNamara said. All of this translates to more affordable products and a quicker shopping experience. Plus, the lack of overhead also means that the turnaround from lease signing to store opening can be very quick. Even with a huge expansion clip, and Dollar General getting into the fray, the risk of oversaturation of these stores is slim, experts said. DG Market will be targeting a different consumer, who will be making smaller, but more frequent, purchases, while shoppers at Aldi and Lidl will likely be doing the bulk of their grocery shopping in the stores. “Your individual who’s going to Aldi and who is going to DG Market is trying to accomplish two different things, or is shopping for two different types of baskets of goods,” Svec said. While Lidl closed 11 underperforming locations across North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, South Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania, it has not dampened its plans of opening more locations, and others have not been shedding spaces. Congestion is not a big concern because grocery is a steady market, and there are vast opportunities to expand into new markets with growing populations, like the Gulf Coast, Svec said. “You’re going to see that network of stores continue to expand because there’s just going to be the buying power,” Svec said, “and the population growth that will allow for it without worrying about getting too oversaturated from a grocery concentration perspective.” McNamara is hopeful that in the future, discount grocery stores will be considered the new anchor, since their smaller footprints mean less space returning to the market, giving landlords more flexibility in case a store goes out of business. When it comes to the future, McNamara sees the expansion of discount grocers as “unlimited.” “We’re in most of the major markets, at least in the Northeast, and we’re penetrating smaller markets now,” he said. “And we see the growth of our store sales as something that probably won’t diminish for the foreseeable future.” Read more: Discount Grocery Chains Are Booming. Here’s How They Pick Spots. – Commercial Observer

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Süd (German family owned) launches an innovative overnight parking project in Düsseldorf. In modern cities, the search for overnight parking becomes a constant struggle for urban residents. However, this issue can become an opportunity for supermarket chains like ALDI SÜD by transforming their parking areas into valuable assets during off-peak hours. This strategy not only eases the burden of finding a parking spot, but also optimizes the use of an otherwise wasted space. The pilot project launched by Aldi Süd demonstrates an astute strategy that seeks to meet local needs and strengthen ties with the community. By allowing residents to use their parking spaces during the evening hours, the supermarket chain not only responds to a common need, but also enhances its presence in the daily lives of local inhabitants. This initiative exemplifies an innovative approach to real estate asset management and demonstrates how retail can adapt to changing urban demands. The collaboration between Aldi Süd and the ampido parking space reservation app reflects how digital technologies are being harnessed to provide efficient solutions. Residents can conveniently reserve and pay for parking, adding convenience and flexibility to the experience. This synergy between the digital and physical worlds is a step forward in creating comprehensive services that address customer needs on multiple fronts. The off-peak parking approach is also noteworthy. The strategy diverts parking demand to less crowded hours. In this way, it not only reduces the pressure on parking in the city centre during peak hours, but also demonstrates a full understanding of residents' usage patterns and the ability to adapt to them. This pilot project in Düsseldorf may mark the beginning of a trend in the retail industry. The collaboration of local government and supermarket chains to address the parking deficit is a promising partnership that could be replicated in other cities and supermarkets. The vision of transforming parking spaces into flexible and shared resources benefits both retail companies and the community in general, achieving an optimization of urban parking.

Trader Joe`s (owned by the German Discounter Aldi Nord Group) announced it has NO plans to install self-checkout boxes in its stores according to its CEO Bryan Palbaum and President Jon Basalone. THE REASONS FOR THIS DECISION "According to Palbaum and Basalone, not having self-checkout terminals benefits workers, as it preserves their jobs: "We believe in people and we don't want to get rid of our team members for efficiency or whatever..." CEO Palbaum added that they are "not user-friendly" and that they "don't want to burden their customers with more tasks, because self-pay means more work." And President Basalone added that, recently, he had problems using a self-checkout machine in a competing supermarket and had to ask an employee for help...". In an opinion, "a compelling reason behind these decisions is that, until now, Trader Joe's has taken great care of the shopping experience in its stores, with customer service protocols and avoiding queues at the checkout," he says. On the other hand, they have remained firm in not entering online sales: their website allows you to make shopping lists... but not to make transactions. What reason do they give? "The additional costs associated with selling online don't make it profitable." Likewise, the company wants to "avoid the unionization of its centers, very widespread in its competitors," says Dimas Gimeno. TRADER JOE'S PRIORITIES In this scenario, Trader Joe's executives prefer to focus their investments on three aspects that they consider key, as Gimeno indicates: 1. Product innovation, "for which they are well known in the USA" 2. Reinforce the emotional connection with your customers. 3. And expansion, opening new stores. The executive president of WOW, who in his speeches in recent years has emphasized the importance of what he has called 'retail reset', throws these questions to his followers: "Do you think a company like Trader Joe's can stay out of these technological advances? What is your experience with self-checkout terminals? Are you in favor of its use?" The reactions have not been long in coming. We collect one of them, the one offered by David Rodríguez Francisco, CEO at the consulting firm ON Soluciones: "The news produces mixed thoughts for me. On the one hand (in addition to respect for the employee) I find it amazing that their eagerness to provide better customer service dispenses with self-payment terminals that lower costs, which in a sector with tight margins such as food, is gold. He walked for them. On the other hand, by doing that it is true that they are protecting the experience of many customers but are harming that of others. Many customers value the presence of self-payment terminals (it dominates their use and allows them to save time and improve their shopping experience). What about them? And, above all, if self-payment is dispensed with "because it is not easy to use", why not invest in improving the user experience? Not all technologies are ready to be consumed massively immediately: it is necessary to iterate them, adjust them, see how consumers use them, and polish them," he concludes. Read more: Trader Joe's against the tide: announces that it has no intention of introducing self-checkout boxes (foodretail.es)

Discount Retail Chain Kiwis ((owned by Norgesgruppen) cut the price equivalent to VAT of 15 per cent. Discounters REMA 1000 and Extra directly responded to the stunt. On Saturday night, a price war started on fish, where the food chains outdid each other in offering the cheapest fish to the people: First, Kiwis announced that they are cutting the price equivalent to VAT of 15 percent. REMA 1000 responded by cutting 20 percent. Extra then announced that they will sell fish as cheap as REMA 1000. In the end, Kiwi said that they will match the offer from both competitors. "We are the price pusher and are pleased that competitors are following suit," Kiwi communications director Kristine Arvin. Before REMA 1000 and Extra came on the scene, Arvin stated that they would cut the price equivalent of VAT on all fresh and frozen fish until October 1. This adds to a series of steps Kiwis have taken over the past year, with the price freeze in February being the largest. Then Kiwis chose to drop the price jump that happens on February 1 every year (when suppliers increase prices into stores). The other chains Coop Extra and Rema followed suit. Kiwi gets more grip Economists believe the price freeze may even have had an impact on mortgage rates, because food prices remained artificially low. Kiwis also saw all-time customer growth due to the February grip. Economist and author Anders Nordstad reacts to the fact that the price cut to Kiwis is not much bigger. On social media, he writes about, among other things, the grocery industry. Nordstad points out that the price of fish has fallen by 42 percent on the commodity exchange Fish Pool since mid-March. Kiwis see that fish sales have declined over the past year, fish have become more expensive and people have been given worse advice. Arvin believes they have not increased profits on fish and that it is the price to those who have jumped in price. "Fish is not a lucrative commodity to sell, but for the state it is because they get 15 percent in VAT revenue. We have calculated on that, and with the increased revenues the state has received with increased prices, they could have financed a VAT cut, we believe that would have been a good investment in public health." Kiwis also cut VAT on fish in 2019 and then sales increased by 42 per cent in a few weeks. "If they are serious, they should make sure that healthy choices can be made. Neither current nor previous governments have followed suit, so this call goes out to all parties. REMA 1000 and Extra respond to the Kiwi stunt On Saturday evening, REMA 1000 also announces a campaign, where they cut the price of all fish and fish food by 20 percent: "REMA 1000 will sell healthy, quality products at the cheapest price in the country," says Pia Mellbye, sales and marketing director at the food chain. She says this is a long-planned campaign. "We have set aggressive goals to sell more of what the authorities say is good for health, and we have promised to make healthy choices easy to make in everyday life. Read more: Full priskrig på fisk - VG

Discount Retail Chain ALDI Italy (Germany family owned) consolidates its presence in Northern Italy with the inauguration of two new stores in San Stino di Livenza (VE) and Rimini. With a total of 66 stores in the two regions, ALDI continues its development plan in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. The new stores offer a compact and complete assortment and are organized in an effective and intuitive way to offer an increasingly "smart" shopping experience designed to meet the needs of consumers and allow customers to shop quickly. The new store in Rimini, the second in the city of Romagna, was inaugurated in Via Circonvallazione Nuova 69. The shop offers its customers 70 free parking spaces. The store in San Stino di Livenza (VE), located in the passage area of the ancient "Via Annia", is located in Via Vanoni 1. Guests have access to 116 free parking spaces. The inauguration of the new stores consolidates the expansion plan in Northern Italy, reaching the important milestone of 160 stores inaugurated since 2018, the year ALDI entered the Italian market. Read more: ALDI touches the roof of 160 Italian stores (largoconsumo.info)

Discount Retail Chain Aldi UK (German family owned) is to recruit more than 1,700 workers by the end of the year as it continues its rapid expansion plans. The German discounter said the recruitment drive includes a mix of full-time and part-time jobs at its regional warehouses, with salaries of up to £53k a year. Recruitment director Kelly Stokes said: “As we continue to grow and attract new shoppers, we need even more amazing colleagues at our distribution sites to make everything possible. “As well as healthcare and lifestyle perks, being a part of the Aldi team means a great working environment. “With it being an exciting time for the business, there are also real opportunities to progress.” The move comes as Aldi is in the midst of a rapid expansion across the UK which includes the supermarket chain opening a new store every week. The retailer aims to increase its UK store portfolio to 1,200 stores by 2025. It currently has about 1,000 sites, meaning it will need to open 60 new locations a year on average. Read more: Aldi to create 1,700 new jobs amid expansion drive - Retail Gazette

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Netherlands (owned by the German Schwarz Group) comes in market share after Albert Heijn and Jumbo. Market share of supermarket chains in the Netherlands (2022, NielsenIQ): Albert Heijn 37,0% Jumbo 21,5% Lidl 10,1% Plus 6,8% Aldi 5,4% But where the two biggest grocery retail formulas rub close together, the German discounter is clearly playing a different game. Without fuss and with a tight focus on sustainability. One in ten Dutch people do their shopping at Lidl. This means that the discounter's market share is almost double that of Aldi, that other low-cost discount retailer from Germany. Over the past fifteen years, Lidl NL has steadily expanded its market share, from nearly 5% in 2008 to more than 10% today. What is the secret of the supermarket chain, which was founded in 1973 by Dieter Schwarz? These 6 ingredients explain the success of the Lidl formula. 1. Provide an affordable look It takes some getting used to when the Netherlands is introduced to Lidl in 1997. That year, the German chain opened stores in Uden in Brabant and Vriezenveen in Overijssel. It is a supermarket as we do not yet know it in Netherlands. Yellow floors, no expensive brands and products sold out of boxes. With which Lidl just wants to say: by doing your shopping here, you are cheaper. After all, those who present themselves as a cheaper alternative do not wear expensive clothes. 2. Use the power of simplicity Are you looking for peanut butter at Albert Heijn? There is no shortage of choice. The retailer has almost thirty different brands, flavors and quantities on the shelf. Lidl, on the other hand, keeps it simple and comes with only two options: with and without nuts. No fuss, no fuss. It is a strategy that you see in almost all product categories. This makes shopping clear for the customer, but also benefits Lidl itself. Just think: at Jumbo they deal with a range that consists of more than 30,000 products. Lidl has less than 3,000. This makes the company agile and ensures more efficiency. For example, organizing the product flow is a lot less complicated. 3. Provide surprise in the assortment If we just talked about the power of simplicity, that does not mean that you will never be surprised at Lidl. That's what the formula does with products you don't expect one-two-three in the supermarket. Massage cushions, for example. But also cheaper laptops, vacuum cleaners or a pan set. In every edition of the action solder, these kinds of striking non-food items are used. Lidl does this again with its own brands. For example, there is the Parkside budget drill, which was tested as the best by the Consumers' Association a year and a half ago. 4. Show off a product champion Anyone who starts a new supermarket today will receive the same advice from almost every retail expert: A-brands are needed to get traffic on the shop floor. Lidl did without it for almost twenty years, although the range in the Netherlands now includes a handful of well-known names such as Croky, Red Bull and Dr.Oetker added. But the formula still relies heavily on its own private label. What are you doing then? Ensure that there is at least one important product category in which you excel, in order to win over any doubters. That eye-catcher became fruit and vegetables for Lidl. GfK rated this department as the best in the Netherlands ten times (although Nettorama dethroned Lidl in 2022). That created confidence and many curious newcomers to the store. 5. Be fully committed to sustainability It is now well known in the retail world, but it may be new to the average consumer: Lidl is the most sustainable supermarket of all the major players. No shortage of examples. For example, there are now 100,000 square meters of solar panels on the roofs of the 442 branches. More than 95 percent of the residual flows are reused, including the boxes on the shelf. Fruit and vegetables are no longer flown in and most vegetarian alternatives are now cheaper than meat. Moreover, Lidl was the first supermarket with don't waste me stickers. Are products almost expired? Then they can go for 25 cents. 50 cents applies to meat, fish and vegetarian. Without Lidl, a company like Kipster (winner of the Challenger50 award in 2019) probably wouldn't exist. The animal-friendly chicken farm found a partner in the supermarket who signed up for five years of guaranteed sales. Remember for a moment that the concept only existed on paper at the time. Not a single climate neutral egg had been laid yet. 6. Make bold choices That partnership with Kipster can rightly be called a bold choice. And Lidl has a hand in that. Deciding things, not because the law requires it, but because you feel that the time is right. Another good example is the tobacco ban. The government announced in 2022 that supermarkets will no longer be allowed to sell cigarettes from 2024. Lidl said as early as 2018 that it would ban tobacco from the shelves, far ahead of the troops. Since the beginning of October 2021, no cigarettes are available in stores of the retailer. It is a good example of moral leadership. Moreover, these kinds of tough choices fit in with Lidl's strategy, in which it wants to make a sustainable and healthy lifestyle accessible and affordable for everyone. The history of Lidl If your name is Dieter Schwarz and you want to set up a chain of affordable supermarkets, you prefer not to do so under your own name: Schwarzmarkt sounds a bit too cheap. That is why Schwarz (now 83) bought the rights to the name Lidl from his partner Ludwig Lidl, in turn a member of a family that had been running a food wholesaler with the Schwarz family since 1930. In 1973 the first Lidl opened, in Ludwigshafen. The formula, a supermarket with a cheap, limited but good range, was derived from the brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht, who had started Aldi a decade earlier and had developed into a powerhouse among the advantageous supers. In the five years up to 1978, Schwarz junior opened about thirty stores in his own region, varying the range and formulas. From 1978 onwards, the offensive went well nationally. Lidl became the name for the group's smaller discount supermarkets, the largest supermarkets were given the name Kaufland. Ten years later, Schwarz had 460 stores in his own country, after which the Germans moved into France, England and the rest of Europe in the nineties. The first Dutch Lidl store was opened in 1997. The offensive has now led to more 12,000 stores spread over 33 countries. This accounts for the lion's share of the 133 billion euro turnover of the Schwarz Group, which has grown into the largest retailer in Europe. Read more: Lidl in the Netherlands: 6 reasons why the supermarket is successful (mtsprout.nl)

Discount Retail Chain Biedronka Poland (owned by Portuguese Jeronimo Martins) is the largest retail chain in Poland. With such a scale of operations, business emissions are also significant, in 2022 it was 21,634 thousand tonnes of CO2. "As much as 92.7 percent of them fall (this is the specificity of the entire industry) on the so-called indirect emissions of the 3rd range, i.e. generated in the external supply and service chain", says wnp.pl. One of the most important ways to reduce the carbon footprint is to invest in renewable energy. The Group installs photovoltaic panels on the roofs of 2,000 stores. The agreement guarantees Biedronka the possibility of receiving electricity from Polish photovoltaic farms (up to 78 GWh per year). Biedronka is implementing a packaging change project aimed at increasing the level of recycling and reducing plastic consumption. In this project, he works with suppliers and trains them in the principles of eco-design. The chain offers the Sorteusz application, which is to make it easier for customers to segregate waste. Biedronka is the largest retail chain in Poland, present on the market for 27 years. At the end of the first quarter of this year, it had 3,404 stores located in over 1,300 towns. It is owned by the Portuguese group Jeronimo Martins. Environmental impact of food chains The operation of such a large chain of stores as Biedronka has consequences for the environment. In 2022, the Group contributed to 21,634 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions. This was 0.9% higher than in 2021 and 10.6% higher than in 2020. The increase in emissions was mainly related to the growing number of outlets and the opening of distribution centers, i.e. increasing the scope of operations. This is accompanied by a growing number of goods imported into stores and sold in them. It is worth emphasizing the characteristic structure of CO2 emissions and the related possibilities of their direct reduction. Direct emissions of scope 1, i.e. generated in "production processes" (read: in commercial activities), in 2022 accounted for only 0.6 of the total CO2 emissions of the Biedronka network. Their volume amounted to 120.8 thousand tonnes and most importantly decreased by 3.8% year-on-year, and by over 19% compared to 2019. Read more: Biedronka gra w zielone (dlahandlu.pl)