He doesn’t go out of his way to attack his competitor. The discounter of German origin Lidl attacked head-on in an advertisement on social networks the leader of food distribution in France E.Leclerc on Friday, accusing it of “comparing the incomparable” to present itself as the best selling brand on the price.
Lidl, which has benefited much less than E.Leclerc from the French’s concern about the soaring price of their groceries, pointed out a comparison between its cereals and those of its competitor’s first-price range.
Less expensive, E.Leclerc cereals contain, says Lidl, “49% less wheat and 40% less cocoa” than its own cereals. And the discounter says it is “ready to do anything to offer you the best prices but not to make you swallow anything”.
“Levels (of aggression) never seen before”
For distribution sector expert Olivier Dauvers, this is a “new episode in the advertising battle between Lidl and Leclerc”, which “reaches levels (of aggressiveness) never before seen”.
It takes place in a context of strong competition between distributors, exacerbated by inflation which has reinforced consumers’ interest in low prices, real or perceived as such. The independent group E.Leclerc, leader in the sector with almost a quarter of the market, benefited from an impressive gain in market share in 2023.
Among the arguments deployed to try to convince new customers, distributors use comparative advertising using variable methodologies (local or national comparison, on all or part of the assortment, etc.) allowing them to show that they are cheaper than competition.
On BFMTV/RMC on Thursday, the president of Lidl France Michel Biero declared that E.Leclerc, who “launched these comparators, has taken a step” that he had “never taken before”, by comparing “products of distributor brands with low prices, even though they are not comparable products” from a quality point of view, according to him.