The pack of 4 dessert creams for 74 euro cents? Lidl communicates on this product in its advertising spot broadcast since January 19 in the evening on television channels. Objective: to familiarize the customer with the new name of this low price range, the “P’tits prix Oui”. Who says new name says new logo, yellow and red, which will be materialized in some 1,600 French stores by a shelf stop and repeated in advertising spots on TV and radio, and in a digital campaign and leaflets which Lidl distributes at a rate of 9 million copies per year.
Launched almost a year ago, in February 2024, these low prices designed to align with competitors’ top prices are gaining momentum. From 100 references at the start, they have increased to more than 300 now, out of a total of 2,800 references on average in a Lidl. “We made price cuts throughout 2024 which cost us several tens of millions of eurosexplains to LSA Michel Biero, vice-president of Lidl France since last summer. And we will continue in 2025 at the same pace.” Or 40 to 50 million euros per year, which have degraded the result (not communicated) of the brand in France. The range is made up of around a hundred specially created references and 200 others already existing, as well as own brands of course, and whose price has been aligned with that of the competitors’ first prices.We lower our production costs or our marginswe detail at Lidl. For certain products, the composition changes: for example, we put poultry instead of beef in the ravioli.“
These 40 to 50 million euros invested in price reductions aim to bring back the customer
-This offensive aims to attract all the customers, many of whom have neglected the brand throughout the inflation period. Between May 2023 and February 2024, the discounter which arrived in France in 1989 saw its market share decline each month. Its price image measured by Kantar Worldpanel has lost more than 3 points, going from 73.3 to 69.7 in two years, between 2022 and 2024. But since spring 2024, Lidl has made a real comeback. Over the last period measured by Kantar, P12 (November 4-December 1), Lidl gained 0.3 points of market share, to 8.4%. “It’s goodrejoices Michel Biero, who now works with John-Paul Scally, appointed president of Lidl France last summer. But that’s not enough, there’s everything else.” Like the average basket or even penetration, still decreasing.
All this does not prevent Lidl from announcing a burst of store openings for 2025. Michel Biero lists 50, half of which will be net store creations, and not transfers. In the coming weeks, new stores are planned in Gap (Alpes de Haute-Provence), Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, in the suburbs of Lyon, La Chapelle-sur-Erdre (Loire-Atlantique), Tarnos (Landes) , etc. With this figure, Lidl finds a rhythm that it has not had for a long time in France, 2021, 2022 and 2023 being qualified as “0” years as 0 openings.
