Lidl launches a pilot for a digital reservation service for non-food promotion items in its Lidl Plus app in the UK this week. For the first time, the discounter’s customers will be able to reserve selected products via app and collect them from a store of their choice before the official sales start. While Lidl is launching a digital Click, Reserve & Collect service for non-food in the UK, Aldi South has withdrawn from Click & Collect for groceries in the UK just a few months earlier.
Lidl Plus users can still pre-order a robotic lawnmower from Lidl’s private label Parkside and the associated garage via the Lidl Plus app until the end of this week. Customers have the option of picking up the reserved products a week later from their individually selected store – well before the goods are available in the stores.
With the new reservation service, Lidl is strengthening the relevance of its Lidl Plus app for loyal customers. The app-based approach goes beyond traditional promotions which discounters traditionally use as a driver of footfall to stimulate impulse purchases and boost sales in the core grocery business. “We know how popular our ‘Middle of Lidl’ offers are,” explains Jassine Ouali, Chief Customer Officer at Lidl UK. “This trial gives our Lidl Plus customers the opportunity to secure a must-have before it hits the shelves.”
Lidl’s competitor Aldi ends pick-up service for food in UK
While Lidl in UK is testing a new lever for digital customer loyalty with Click, Reserve & Collect for selected non-food items, competitor Aldi Süd in the UK discontinued its own pick-up service. The Click & Collect service, which was introduced as a test in 2020, enabled customers of Aldi Süd’s UK subsidiary to order groceries online and collect them from selected stores for a fee of 4.99 British Pounds. However, Aldi Süd discontinued the service in August 2024 in order to strategically focus on its brick-and-mortar core business, keep cost structures lean and prices low.
