“Single digit market share is a thing of the past,” says Lidl NI’s chief Ivan Ryan.
The head the German supermarket giant in Northern Ireland says he’s aiming to hit 20% market share in the years ahead – up from just over 9% currently.
Lidl remains one of the fastest growing businesses of its kind here – market share just a handful of years ago was in and around 6%.
But Ivan’s confident Lidl can continue to muscle in the territory of the larger players – Tesco being out in front with more than a third of market share.
Lidl now has 41 stores here – with two due to open this year – and employs around 1,300 staff. It’s also investing around £150m over the next couple of years across its store network.
According to its latest filled accounts sales stand at £434m with pre-tax profits of just over £11m, for the year ending February 2023. But that’s likely to approach the £500m in the next accounting period.
“It’s been a strong and challenging market in terms of the cost of living crisis,” he told Ulster Business. “We are and have been the fastest growing retailer in the market.”
“People have been turning to Lidl in the cost of living crisis… we have 500,000 [customers] a week coming into our stores. Business performance is good, profits are down, driven by our own market strategy of being the cheapest and value.”
“We now have 41 stores trading, and two stores opening this year – Carryduff and the Boucher Road. We employ 1,300 people directly, with that up to 1,400 at the end of the business year.”
Lidl says a recent report it commissioned showed it supported around 6,900 jobs indirectly through its sourcing and supply chain.
And market share is something which Ivan is firmly targeting – ultimately more than doubling its 9.2% level now in the years ahead.
“We have a mission of upwards of 60 stores,” he says. “Single digit market share is thing of the past, our aim is to be choice for everyone – 20% market share – that’s where we should be in terms of what we offer the customers.”
While food price inflation remains, Ivan says it has been easing across the board.
“I can see a level of deflation in our pricing,” he says.
“Over 20% of our range has been dropping below the rate of the market in the last nine months.”
Expansion remains on the cards and Ivan says the chain’s revamp and building of new, more modern and eco-friendly stores, has helped to grow that customer base.
Two new stores in Carryduff and on the Boucher Road are set to open this year, while planning applications are ongoing for another four stores in Bangor, Dungannon, Craigavon and Coleraine.
The retailer announced it pumped a record £360m into the NI economy last year and a new report they commissioned and carried out by Oxford Economics found the company supported almost 6,900 jobs across NI.
It also found Lidl NI’s total gross value added (GVA) contribution from store-based activity boosted the economy by £120m, up 52% from 2018, representing an average growth of 9% annually.
Lidl is marking 25 years of business, having opened its first NI store in Cookstown in 1999.
“Our new stores are driven by what customers are looking for,” Ivan says. “We have invested massively in eco-friendly stores, in terms of electricity and the carbon footprint – there’s a huge return in ESG (environmental, social, and governance).”
Ivan says the new stores are helping Lidl expand its range by around 10% of the next few months.