Discounter retailer Lidl has announced plans to move away from its hard discount business model in France.
Lidl has revealed a major change in its business stategy for its French market. The discount retail chain plans to entice shoppers with more than its current strong emphasis on low pricing. The retailer will include more leading brands and fresh produce in its French stores in future.
The changes were communicated to more than 3,000 Lidl executives and store managers by Friedrich Fuchs, managing director of Lidl France, earlier this week. He said that the changes were an attempt to get out of hard discounting without becoming a “conventional supermarket”. Lidl’s French stores will include an in-store bakery, more space for fresh produce and the inclusion of more national brands.
Lidl began offering more A-brands to customers in an attempt to differentiate its business from its main rival Aldi. Competitor price monitoring – and other retail price intelligence -has helped the discounter to compete with Europe’s leading supermarkets on pricing to date.
With discounters facing increasing competition from the leading supermarkets on pricing, the market share fall in some countries. It is expected that other locations will follow suit if the strategy is successful in Lidl’s French stores.
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