Discount stores Aldi and Lidl shunned by shoppers after becoming too popular and looking like they’ve been ‘robbed by schoolkids’
Customers fall out with 'crowded' supermarkets after queues at tills and packed car parks see drop in takings due to 'overtrading'
SHOPPERS are shunning Aldi and Lidl because they are too popular, experts claim.
Queues at tills and crowded car parks have hit sales, the analysts say.
Christmas takings at Aldi were flat and Lidl’s dropped by up to four per cent. Stockbrokers Shore Capital blame “overtrading”.
They say understaffed, crowded stores looked “as if they’ve been robbed by a load of school kids”.
Aldi and Lidl were also hit by the falling Pound, which meant some goods were priced similarly to rivals.
Four pints of milk was up 4p to 99p and a pack of bananas up 4p to 72p. Tesco and Morrisons saw modest increases in sales.
Related Stories
Aldi and Lidl have been knocking lumps out of rivals since the 2008 financial crisis, doubling market share.
Aldi has 6.2 per cent, ahead of Waitrose, and Lidl 4.6 per cent, above Iceland.
The German chains keep prices down by buying limited ranges of goods in huge bulk. Aldi managers get incentives to cut costs.
They have 1,200 stores and are opening around 65 each year. But industry watchers say they may have peaked.
Lidl introduced up-market stores with wood floors and low lighting but its British boss left last year after apparently being too bold.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “This has been our best ever Christmas, with double-digit sales growth in December and positive like-for-like sales, which were boosted by strong demand for our Specially Selected range of premium products that are comparable to the quality of more expensive retailers such as Fortnum & Mason, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.
"Our colleagues did a fantastic job of managing the unprecedented demand we experienced from shoppers over the Christmas period. The claims made by Clive Black, whose firm represents Morrisons, bear no relation to reality.”
