Together they have as much market as the entire Internet trade. This is what they are fighting for…
Of course, we are talking about Biedronka and Lidl. The combined market power of both discount stores is as great as the entire Polish online trade.
The value of the Polish e-commerce market in 2023 is PLN 14 billion. At the same time, the sales of Biedronka, belonging to the Jeronimo Martins group, amounted to EUR 30.61 billion (over PLN 130 billion) and were 20.6% higher than in the previous year. higher than a year earlier. Lidl achieved revenues of PLN 33.37 billion, after an increase of 24.1%.
However, the value of gross sales on Allegro in 2023 was PLN 13.48 billion – an increase of 11.3%. Every year. This was an increase very close to the average annual inflation in Poland.
– Poles still prefer stationary shopping, and online trading will only be a supplement for a long time – says Grzegorz Mroczek, vice-president of the Cream Property Advisors consulting agency.
Biedronka and Lidl are fighting for customer wallets
Recently, there has been a lot of talk all over Poland about a rather unusual price war between Biedronka and Lidl, in which discount stores competed with each other by overpricing selected products and promoting themselves by comparing them. Even the presidents of both companies – Biedronka and Lidl – spoke on the matter.
– Biedronka has a much higher density of stores, so it is closer to customers. In large cities, you can easily reach its stores on foot. Lidl, on the other hand, has more central locations, but has much fewer of them and is therefore less accessible – says Grzegorz Mroczek.
All this is happening in a mature market with few interesting locations left, especially since the number of retail parks is growing rapidly. According to the definition, a retail park is a facility consisting mainly of medium and large-sized specialized stores, most often without common areas, with an entrance directly from the parking lot and with a minimum leasable area of 5,000 sq m.
– Biedronka and Lidl tried to take customers away from their competitor – comments Grzegorz Mroczek from Cream Property Advisors.
The different locations of the Biedronka and Lidl chains mean that Lidl was looking for a way to acquire customers that were easier for Biedronka.