I’m not a superfan of Lidl, but I do always have a significant amount of fun when I make a trip there. You never quite know what you’ll find, or what tremendously low price your find might cost. You also never quite know whether you’ll come home with gourmet treats to boast about or total duds.
The place is a bit like your most entertaining and irreverent but unreliable friend. If that friend also considers you to be a petty thief and checks your pockets when you leave their company – Lidl asks shoppers to scan a receipt before they can leave the premises. It’s not so much the security that I mind, more the fact that it stops me from spending more. If I need to keep a hand free to hold and scan that receipt, I can’t carry many bags.
That said, I’m not surprised to learn that Lidl has just become the UK’s fifth-largest supermarket. Last week, it overtook Morrisons, taking 8.6 per cent of grocery sales in the 12 weeks to 17 May 2026, with Morrisons taking 8.3 per cent.
Shorts
But I’m sure it would have flown past much sooner if it helped consumers to spend more there, and gave them the confidence they can do a full or almost-full shop. Aldi has leaned into this in various ways, including making space for customers to buy – and pack! – big shops without the next person’s products being flung at them as they go. It has also spent money on brilliant PR and marketing campaigns, which Lidl is yet to see the value in.
