Lidl announces innovations in branches – customers benefit

Supermarket

Giving customers as much orientation as possible when shopping is one of the goals that supermarkets and discounters are pursuing. The safer the customers move through the branch, the more comfortable they feel. And the more she perceives the shopping experience as positive.

This is one of the reasons why Lidl has introduced a system that enables customers to check the availability of certain products. Now the discounter wants to expand the offer. This should make it easier for customers to find the goods they want.

Traffic light shows Lidl customers the right way

So far, customers have been able to check the availability of certain non-food promotional goods at Lidl themselves, for example in the app or online. The black discounter wants to avoid frustration among shoppers. A traffic light system is used for this.

Now the concept is to be rolled out further, like the “food newspaper” (LZ) reported. The display, which works with the traffic light colors red, yellow and green, will soon also be displayed elsewhere: on the MD devices of the employees. This allows them to help directly in the branch to find certain non-food items. Both in your own branch and in neighboring shops and in real time.

This is especially helpful for people who cannot or do not want to check the availability of the goods themselves.

Lidl only offers ads for advertised items and non-food items

However, according to the report, with reference to Lidl managers Tim Schröder and Arend Post, the system only affects articles that are currently being actively advertised. Until this system is also available on employee devices, customers can continue to inform themselves. The meaning of the colors in the app and on the web: red means “sold out”, yellow means “almost sold out” and green means “available”.

And another innovation could follow here: According to “LZ”, Lidl is considering integrating this traffic light system on the sales floor. This would allow customers to see directly on site whether the items they are looking for are available.

Lidl had to collect more data to make the system possible

There is obviously a lot of work behind the system, as Schröder illustrated. The head of the “Omnichannel and End-2-End Experience” division explained how challenging the development had been. For example, because certain data, such as those about the exact sizes of the existing items, were missing.

Until recently, it was not so easy to understand exactly how many products were available in which sizes or colors. To solve this, Lidl got to the root of the problem: “An efficient process for goods receipt and clearance is essential for the discount store,” says Schröder.

The improvement of the data situation through more detailed inventory and products already sold has improved the processes. Even returns and defective items are taken into account, with a positive impact on customers. In this way, availability can be checked almost in real time. Schröder describes this as a “revolution” for the discounter.