Aldi and Lidl post record sales in the run-up to Christmas
The German discounters Aldi and Lidl have posted record sales in the UK in the run-up to Christmas. In the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the British stores achieved unprecedented sales of 1.5 billion pounds (1.7 billion euros), Aldi announced on Tuesday. Lidl announced sales growth of twelve percent compared to the same period last year. The main reason for this is strong inflation, which has led to British consumers paying more attention to price.
Aldi is the cheapest supermarket in the UK and has recently been able to significantly increase its market share. The discounter is now one of the four largest chains in the country alongside Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda. Lidl is also on the rise and is now the sixth largest supermarket chain on the British market.
The two German chains "have intensified price competition in the UK", says Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor. This has "prompted other supermarkets to offer discounts and special offers and think of innovative ways to increase customer demand".
Inflation in the UK has been even higher than in many other Western countries over the past two years. Price increases did level off at the end of 2023. However, the year-on-year rate of food inflation remained at 3.9% in November. Many households are also suffering from the high interest rates with which the British central bank has responded to high inflation.
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Aldi and Lidl's record sales during the pre-Christmas season in Great Britain have put pressure on other supermarkets to offer discounts and special offers to compete. Despite the higher inflation, both Lidl and Aldi have significantly increased their market shares in the UK, positioning themselves as the fifth and fourth largest chains respectively. The pre-Christmas sales surge at Lidl resulted in a twelve percent growth compared to the same period the previous year.
Source: www.ntv.de
