Budget supermarkets dismiss rumours of online expansion

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - 12:02 by Paul Tissington

Although the UK's bricks and mortar food market is being reshaped by the emergence of affordable chains, like Aldi and Lidl, neither of these companies is going to enter the e-commerce market any time soon, according to Retail Gazette.

Analysts believe that by 2016, the amount being spent on groceries via safe shopping online will have risen by half, but spokespeople for both of these growing outlets dismissed the idea that such impressive statistics will convince them to compete with established rivals, like Tesco and Sainsbury's, in this area.

Aldi representative, Giles Hurley, explained that his firm is not currently looking into the possibility of making the move to the web, although he did say that it will be keeping tabs on how consumer habits are changing, which could lead to the eventual adoption of e-commerce to supplement its high street presence.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Lidl echoed these sentiments, in spite of the fact that a recent report, published by Kantar Worldpanel, revealed that plenty of consumers would be willing to switch from their current supermarket of choice if only one of these two budget chains decided to start offering a home delivery service.

Being able to select groceries and buy them online, before having them delivered direct to your door at a predetermined time slot, is much easier than spending an hour or two walking around a store and selecting items by hand for most people. And although the economic recovery is starting to be talked about positively in the press, plenty of consumers still feel the need to turn to cheaper supermarkets when doing their weekly shop.

It does seem that while Aldi and Lidl are steering clear of the e-commerce market for the time being, they could be persuaded to change their minds, if consumers continue to shop online in greater numbers.