Lidl boasts £10m sales growth after winning shoppers from M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s
Lidl today reported a £10m growth in sales in January this year, with the boss of the budget supermarket crediting the boost to shoppers gradually pivoting away from more expensive rivals such as M&S, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.
Over the past year, Lidl saw a total of £120m come in as a result of this trend.
The value retailer praised its fruit and veg range for the year on year increase – with its market share for vegetable shopping reaching a high of 10.2 per cent.
“We know they switch to us to make savings, but then they stay with us when they realise that they’re not having to compromise on quality.”
“It’s clear that a lot of shoppers are now refusing to pay a premium for their groceries. As we progress into 2023, we are seeing more customers coming through our doors, switching spend to Lidl from premium supermarkets,” Ryan McDonnell, CEO at Lidl GB, said.
It comes as research shows that supermarkets on the whole, however, experienced a continued decline in volume sales during January, as the cost of living crisis continues to take a toll on consumers.
Data from NielsenIQ shows that although total till grocery sales rose by 7.6 per cent in the last four week period due to an increase in food price inflation, which reached 13.8 per cent in January.
“We expect a challenging first quarter for the grocery industry, with inflation very much top of mind for shoppers. As a result, shoppers will continue to trade down to cheaper brands or private label products,” Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said.
“Also, when consumers are cash poor, they also shop more frequently and across more retailers, because they can only afford to shop for groceries ‘little and more often’ to help manage household budgets. This will probably continue until Easter, when family gatherings and hopefully better weather gives a boost to sales,” he added.