Lidl France to expand online offer in 2020 | Progresiv
Lidl France’s CEO, Friedrich Fuchs, has outlined the retailer’s medium-term development plans in an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien. He discussed the retailer’s outlook for its online store and the strategy to make Lidl one of the key fresh produce sellers in the country. 
Following the success of both the travel website and the dedicated online wine shop, with home delivery launched in September 2018, Fuchs confirmed Lidl’s intention to offer new online services. Lidl France will launch a non-food ecommerce site in 2020, mirroring the development it has made in Belgium and Germany.
By 2022 Fuchs said that Lidl France will have increased its assortment to 2,000 SKUs, from 1,600 now. Most of the new products will be in the fresh category, helping it to continue its strategy to offer a better choice to its customers. Meanwhile, 300 new stores will be added by 2030, to the 1,500 existing today, while a further 800 will be updated. To support this pace of store growth the 25 warehouses Lidl operates will have their size doubled, with half of the total area to be dedicated to fresh produce.
Lidl continues its strategy of moving away from focusing on value to a one based on quality products sold at the right price. With the upgrading of its offer, Lidl is continuing to evolve its range to move it away from meeting shoppers’ core ambient food and drinks needs to focus more on its fresh offer.
Fuchs said that fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, fresh fish, dairy products and cut flowers generate more than half of Lidl’s annual turnover in France. Looking to the future he said that the goal is to raise this to 70% in the next 10 years. Organic is also a strategic aim, with Fuchs saying the group wants to make organic products more affordable for customers.
Lidl operates more than 1,500 stores in France. It has said around 15m households shop with it on a regular basis. 90% of the products sold are Lidl’s private labels allowing the retailer to offer prices 20% to 30% cheaper than its competitors. 73% of the products sold are made in France and supplied mainly by small and medium sized businesses. (www.igd.com)
