EUROPE: New executive changes for Lidl | Progresiv
Lidl has announced top-level executive changes in Austria and Poland, while Schwarz group CEO Klaus Gehrig opens up about the business in an exclusive interview with Dutch magazine, MT setting out the aim of generating sales of 100 billion euros in the next five years. 
As part of the retailer's aim to reach the target, its recently announced expansion in France and the launch, in Germany, of its online service 'Vorratsbox' are likely to help it drive growth.
In a rare interview, Klaus Gehrig explained how has he has worked his way up to CEO; a position he has held for the last 11 years and how the retailer, which operates the Lidl and Kaufland fascia, was aiming to generate sales of 100 billion euros within the next five years. Gehrig said that the company remains confident that the discount model has no limits and that there is room to grow in all of its current 26 markets. To reach this target, Gehrig said that it would remain focused on three key initiatives:
1) Making Lidl stronger in existing markets: In recent years, categories that have had a big impact on growth include bakery, fresh and non-food. With in-store bakeries now implemented across the estate, this is a key footfall driver and has contributed to profit growth, despite needing two colleagues per store to manage it, while with fresh he noted that the improved ranges are driving growth and shopper perception. Regarding non-food, Gehrig said that Lidl has improved the purchasing and product quality of its non-food offer and that the range is a solid revenue driver.
2) Expanding into new markets: Looking to the future, Gehrig said that Lidl would launch in the US no later than 2018, while also saying that development in the country will be considered, with high initial costs having to be worked through and the product range evolved to meet the needs' of the US shopper to enable it to win in the longer term. While the US is likely to be the retailer's biggest market entry, it was also planning to open Lidl stores in Lithuania in 2016 and Serbia in 2018.
Lidl launches online service
Following Amazon's introduction of its Prime Pantry offer in Germany, Lidl has launched a version of the service, called Lidl 'Vorratsbox' ('Storage box'). For the moment shoppers are only able to buy from a limited number of Lidl products, mainly limited mainly to wine, coffee, tea and oil, with fresh, chilled and dairy excluded for now. However, Lidl has already indicated that it is looking to expand the range and is aiming to add breakfast products, confectionery, snacks and gourmet goods in future. Shoppers pay an additional €4.95 for delivery, with the products transported by DHL after being picked at a centralised warehouse, rather than at a local store.
Lidl aiming to expand in France
French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Lidl is aiming to increase its market share in the country to 8%, from 5% presently, over the course of the next five years. The reports followed a meeting of the country's store managers at which Lidl France's chief executive, Frédéric Fuchs, set out the ambitious target. To reach the market share Fuchs said Lidl was aiming to change shoppers' perception of the retailer and its products. To do this Lidl will focus on its private labels, benchmarking its ranges against those of Monoprix in France and Migros in Switzerland to make sure that it is offering a quality product, albeit at an affordable price.
New CEO's in Austria and Poland
In separate announcements, Lidl has appointed Maksymiliam Braniecki as CEO of Lidl Poland and Christian Schug as CEO of Lidl Austria. Braniecki replaces Michal Lagunionek who has been promoted onto the group's board at its headquarters in Germany. Prior to this appointment, Braniecki was chairman of Lidl's operations in Romania, a post that will be filled by Frank Wagner, Lidl Romania's director of sales and logistics. In Austria, Schug, who has worked at Lidl for 13 years and the last eight as a member of its executive committee, replaces Alexander Deopito, who has left the retailer. (www.igd.com)
