Shoppers flock to Lidl as eyes battle with Morrisons

Lidl plans to overtake Morrisons as the UK’s fifth largest grocer, adding 770,000 customers a week.

Ryan McDonnell, boss of the German discounter, said his company has the “momentum” to outperform its more established rival.

But he added that there was still “a lot of work to be done.”

The comments came as Lidl said it had withdrawn £58 million in spending from traditional grocers Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in the past month alone.

It attracts hordes of cost-conscious shoppers looking to lower their grocery costs amid the rising cost of living.

And yesterday it doubled and promised to be the cheapest supermarket this Christmas, with dinner for seven costing £23.

Lidl and its rival German discounter Aldi have been the UK’s fastest-growing grocers for many years, each opening nearly 1,000 stores since they entered the UK in the 1990s.

This trend has been accelerated by the rising cost of living, with the couple seeing annual revenue growth of around 20 percent.

And in a major blow to Morrisons’ private equity owners, New York-based Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, Aldi took the Bradford grocer’s coveted spot in the Big Four of British supermarkets in September.

Asked if he expects Lidl to overtake Morrisons next, McDonnell said: ‘I think so, yes.’

He told the Mail: ‘We have a very healthy pipeline for our expansion. I don’t calculate at what point I will catch up, but we certainly have a lot of potential to continue to gain market share and achieve more gear gains.’

Veteran retail analyst Richard Hyman said it is now a matter of ‘when, not if’ Lidl surpasses Morrisons. He said: ‘Lidl will attract buyers faster than they have for a while because people will keep trading in.’

Hyman said it could overtake Morrisons in just 18 months.

The comments came as Lidl said sales rose 1.5 per cent to £7.8 billion in the year to February 28.

That came despite sales falling across the market as shoppers returned to eating out following the easing of the pandemic. Profit for the year more than quadrupled to £41.1m.

Sales have picked up since the end of the fiscal year, with the rising cost of living prompting shoppers to turn to the discounters.

McDonnell said, “As the cost of living crisis deepens, we are more focused than ever on supporting our colleagues, our customers and the communities we serve.

“As a discount supermarket, we are in the best position to support people through these challenging times and it is our absolute priority that we continue to do so.”