Discount stores ‘are here to stay’

Alastair Lockhart, head of insight at Savvy Marketing, told the Yorkshire Post that the share gains made by Aldi and Lidl are structural and the German retailers will continue to make their presence felt in the UK market.

He said a combination of new store openings, changes in consumer perceptions and the painful economic downturn have helped discounters gain a foothold to challenge the Big Four grocers Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.

Mr Lockhart added: “Everyone is a lot more aware of value. Trying to save money was something that people didn’t like to talk about. Now, people like to share ideas on how to save money,”

Savvy Marketing, based in Leeds, surveyed 1,000 UK shoppers and found that 52 per cent have visited an Aldi in the past six months; 49 per cent visited main rival Lidl. Nearly a fifth visit Aldi or Lidl at least every two weeks.

Mr Lockhart said the Big Four “must be clear about value and price position is part of that, but it is also about engaging the shopper and making them excited and giving them reasons to save spend a little bit more”.

Aldi has more than 500 stores in the UK, including 45 in Yorkshire. It plans to open five new Yorkshire stores this year.

Meanwhile, Tesco yesterday announced an acceleration of its UK turnaround, stepping-up the pace of large store revamps and investment in online and convenience channels as well as price cuts.