Lidl Germany returns to its discount roots

By: Rennack Sebastian Date: 2024. 11. 21. 09:55

Lidl is modernizing its German stores to counter Aldi’s return to growth and to reflect changing consumer preferences. The new strategy emphasizes simplicity and efficiency while reinforcing Lidl’s discounter image. Non-food actions and the fresh ranges move further into the spotlight.

Lidl in Germany is revamping its store concept. The new motto at the Schwarz discounter is ‘back to the roots.’ In times when customers are increasingly mindful of their wallets, Lidl wants to reposition itself more strongly as a discounter.

Category-specific shop-in-shop concepts are reintegrated into the overall picture of the store and more elaborate design elements exchanged for a clearer shop floor navigation. Customer friendliness through a quick and uncomplicated shopping process as well as operations efficiency are the current main focus at Lidl.

Our reporter, Sebastian Rennack has visited the modernized discount stores of Lidl in Germany.

The fruit and vegetable department, which earlier featured an angled shelf end to create the impression of an open market, now ends in a straight line, as all other shelves do.

The bakery is generally held in a black-and-white design while the first shelf units feature promotional items and sweet and salty snacks.

The biggest changes, however, are visible in the back half of the store. The promotional shelves, previously aligned with the front section of the store, are rotated 90 degrees. This brings the non-food assortment into focus, and all promotional items – non-food, ambient food, and fresh – are grouped together in one area.

Where the promotional area was previously designed so that the refrigerated wall shelves were visible from the center of the store, the last cross-aisle shelf is now fully refrigerated to accommodate the expanding fresh assortment.

The entire assortment is priced with electronic shelf labels (ESL). Standard items are displayed in white, while promotional items are shown in red. For organic products, Lidl has developed a dedicated green plastic frame for the ESL labels.

The cosmetics and the alcohol department have been built back and now use common shelf fixtures.

New and revamped stores feature self-service cash desks – so far without the possibility to pay in cash and without large ‘XXL’ scales.

The previous store model, which was introduced in 2020, was oriented stronger towards the supermarket format. In Germany, Lidl is not only competing with channel competitor Aldi for the customer’s favor but is also continuously working to attract customers from the full-range supermarket retailers Edeka and Rewe. In this context, the supermarketization strategy of past years has been a balancing act between a larger product selection, more services and a more inviting shopping experience for the customer on one hand while maintaining the discounter’s initially lean business model on the other hand.

The visited Lidl store featuring the latest concept is located in a shopping center.

The newly designed fruit and vegetable department is located at the entrance of the store. Promotional items are presented under the slogan “Aus unserer Werbung” (from our advertising).

The bake-off station is named “Unser Brot” (our bread). The first shelf elements contain weekly promotions, sweet and salty snacks. Organic items, whose price levels in the German market have increased significantly, are placed towards the end of the customer flow.

In the back half of the store, the promotional shelves have been rotated 90 degrees to give more visibility to the in-out nonfood ranges. The first two rows of shelves are reserved for non-food promotions starting on Mondays and Thursdays, respectively, while the third row is designated for food promotions.

In the case that a current non-food promotional item is not available, customers can request a voucher at the checkout that covers delivery costs and order the corresponding item online with free delivery.

In the rear corner of the store, all promotions from the fresh ranges are grouped together. The promotional red signal color is already visible from the first part of the store.

The fourth row, as a new element, features an upright cooling unit parallel to the standard wall chillers. This half-closed shelf arrangement not only allows for the presentation of more fresh goods but also reduces energy consumption.

Meat, poultry, and fish ranges are displayed on the backside of the shelf, in a full-aisle glass door refrigerator with a high-quality anthracite finish. The different meat types are color coded for better navigation. Additionally, Lidl emphasizes the four-pronged animal welfare label for “conscious purchases”.

Lidl uses electronic shelf labels for the complete assortment – ambient, chilled and frozen. Standard prices are displayed in white, promotional prices in red color.

For organic products to stand out, Lidl has developed a dedicated green plastic frame for the ESL labels.

The wine department branded as ‘Weinstrasse’ (Wine Route) features wine cartons on the lowest shelf and single bottles on higher shelves. Premium wines at a price point of 5 euros and more are merchandised in dedicated wooden fittings.

As for the wine section, bottles in the spirits section can be faced with pull-frames. High-value spirits are equipped with security tags.

On the way back to the cash line Lidl has placed the frozen ranges in two standing refrigerated cabinets facing each other. As in the ambient ranges, promotional items are divided into offers starting on Monday and on Thursday.

At the cash line Lidl has dedicated a shelf end for family-oriented big packs.

The checkout area is open, divided into three self-service cash desks and one traditional checkout. In the setup shown the self-checkouts so far accept only card payments.

To help technology adaptation, Lidl has numbered the individual steps in the self-checkout process sequentially and added guiding instructions for customers.