Reports state that Walmart is reacting “quickly and aggressively” to Lidl’s entry into the U.S. market. According to its website, Lidl now has 21 stores open in three states – North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia – with plans in the next year for as many as 100 more in states from New Jersey to Georgia.
Since its first U.S. stores opened in June, Lidl has been hailed as the low price leader along with rival Aldi. But according to Rupesh Parikh, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., “Walmart is being really aggressive in terms of watching what Lidl, and presumably Aldi, are doing, and you can tell they are in a fight and not willing to give up customers.”
“We found Walmart prices on like-for-like items were very competitive with both Lidl and Aldi,” Parikh said.
Parikh also reported that several other retailers in current Lidl markets were reacting with lower prices, including Food Lion, Family Dollar, Dollar General and Target. The most aggressive pricing by all the food retailers has been in the private label category, which Parikh believes could lead to higher margins on other products in order to keep overall profits from falling.
Lidl’s next U.S. market is likely to be Texas, where the German company recently opened a number of offices.