Lidl 2

Source: RPMI Railpen

Lidl capped a positive start to 2020 with a convincing Grocer 33 pricing victory.

The discounter was widely hailed as the grocery retailer that won Christmas last week, after posting an 11% uplift in sales for the four weeks to 29 December. This week it came in £6.60 cheaper than Asda at £44.53, putting a stop to the Walmart-owned retailer’s nine-week winning streak.

Lidl had the lowest price for 27 lines, with 24 exclusively cheapest. In so doing it significantly widened its margin of victory to 12.9%, compared with 8.1% when it made its previous guest appearance in October.

Asda would easily have made it a perfect 10 had it not been for Lidl. At £51.13 it was £3.56 cheaper than Morrisons and more than £6 cheaper than Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Asda had the lowest price for seven lines and was exclusively cheapest for the brioche rolls, sponge cloths and tuna chunks. Asda also had more deals than any of its rivals. It had 11 promotions, one more than Morrisons, while Waitrose and Lidl each had five deals, Sainsbury’s three and Tesco just two.

Morrisons came in £10.16 more expensive than Lidl at £54.69, a difference of 18.6%. It offered the lowest price for three items, with none exclusively cheapest.

There was little evidence of Tesco’s much-publicised new year price cuts as it came in £12.68 more expensive than Lidl at £57.21. Sainsbury’s was a further 30p more expensive at £57.51. Both retailers only managed to offer the lowest price on two lines, while neither carried an exclusively cheapest product.

Waitrose was £17.81 more expensive than Lidl at £62.34, a difference of 28.6%. However it did manage to undercut all of its rivals, including Lidl, for the corn on the cob via a 20%-off promotion.