Supermarket competition in Western Europe is heating up with Lidl poised to overtake market leaders Carrefour and Tesco within the next four years, according to a report released by Planet Retail. Driven by the financial downturn, the German discount chain, owned by Schwarz Group, which also controls Kaufland, is expected to generate €80bn in sales by 2018, the report forecasts. The chain currently pulls in around €65bn in annual sales.
“This is an unprecedented power shift in European retail fueled by the near unstoppable growth of the discount format,” David Gray, the reports author, told the UK Guardian. “This readjustment will be permanent rather than a temporary blip.”
Aldi, another German discounter, is not far behind. Its annual sales volume is expected to grow by 3.5 percent over the next five years, outpacing Metro Group to become Western Europe’s fourth biggest retailer. Aldi and Lidl control 8 percent of the UK’s GBP 160bn grocery market, forcing bigger retailers to lower their prices.
