Dennis Claus, vice president, strategy at APPLY, looks at the strategies that physical-first discount retailer Lidl could deploy to stay ahead in the incoming agentic shopping era.

It’s hard to miss the rise of German discounters. Both Lidl and Aldi have gone from plucky underdogs to dogged rivals of Britain’s supermarket sector, enticing shoppers with a stripped-back, discounted experience.

And it’s a strategy that’s working. Lidl’s recent results show UK sales up 10.8% to £13bn, alongside plans to open more than 50 new stores.

These results point to a discounter with a strong proposition that’s moving quickly. But the challenge now is to keep that growth going long into the future, especially as Britain’s shopping habits change.

The next test is whether Lidl can keep shoppers coming back as AI makes it increasingly easy to find the best discounts anywhere.

The emergence of LLMs and AI chatbots means we’re increasingly seeing a new avenue for how people plan, and potentially complete, their weekly shop.

Recent research from Rithum found over a third (36%) of shoppers have used AI to help buy groceries. But that’s different from handing over their entire weekly shop to an agent to make decisions on their behalf. That’s something we may not see today, but over time agents will play a bigger role in deciding where people spend their money.

For Lidl, this presents an interesting challenge. Unlike many of its competitors, it doesn’t offer online grocery shopping in Britain. Its digital experience centres on Lidl Plus, an app offering discounts, points and rewards for shopping in-store.

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