Aldi is preparing to trial online grocery retailing in the UK

March 19, 2015 - PRLog -- According to Germany’s trade magazine Lebensmittel Zeitung Aldi is preparing the launch of an online grocery offer in the UK. The paper reports that the discounter is starting a larger trial to become multichannel in Europe for the first time.

The UK market is ideal for a trial. UK shoppers are extremely online savvy and online grocery has reached a level in the UK that is miles ahead of the German grocery sector.

Germany's biggest discounter has studied the online channel and online grocery business models for over ten years, but management always decided against a launch, fearing that an online offer would cannibalise in store sales.

That said, over the last two years the focus has shifted back to online and the discounter has hired experienced online professionals to prepare for the launch.

Daniel Lucht, Research Director at ResearchFarm comments:

“For now this is only a trial, however should Aldi decide to really venture into online grocery retailing in future, perhaps with a dedicated click & collect offer, then this would have the potential to change the dynamics of the entire industry.”

“Once both Aldi and Lidl add the online channel to their overall proposition and tap into latent demand, all bets are off in terms of where their market share could go.”

“There are still many UK areas underserved by Aldi and Lidl, and many shoppers without easy access to a hard discounter. Without knowing the specifics of the trial, which geographic areas the discounter would target and fulfillment options Aldi would offer, this remains speculation, but it looks like shopper reach could be widened significantly through a home delivery option.”

It should be noted that Aldi has been operating an online wine shop in Australia for over two years.