Amid consistent outstanding performance, we explore five reasons why we expect Aldi to continue growing in the UK.

1. Keeping customers at the heart

Aldi keeps its customers at the heart of everything it does, ensuring that the shopping experience is made as simple and stress-free as possible. This strategy is focused on the discounter's core model which ensures that prices and SKU count are kept low, along with the twice weekly rotation of Specialbuys. To keep improving its offer, Aldi listens to its customers, engaging directly through social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter. Parents are important customers for Aldi and so the discounter has created the Mamia Parent Club and Lunchbox app to engage them with the Aldi brand from pregnancy onwards. This strategy has helped Aldi to increase loyalty and add new aspects to the discounter's appeal.

2. Swap & Save

Aldi's core marketing campaign is very simple in that it encourages shoppers to swap branded products for Aldi's non-branded products in order to save up to 40% on price. Understanding that purse strings have been tightened over recent years, Aldi has confidence that its own products are as good as the brands, but at lower price points. The campaign has been successful in driving customers into store and the discounter has recently created an app to help calculate savings before shopping.

3. Smarter merchandising

On a recent visit to Aldi Hatfield we saw how the discounter has re-merchandised the store to create an improved shopping experience for its customers . This is an estate-wide project which has seen Aldi increase its fresh chillers, fit new produce fixtures and expand on high volume lines such as nappies. Aldi is also focused on driving better availability than ever, removing what was for some a disincentive to keep coming back.

4. Driving fresh sales

Aldi is being recognised more and more for its quality credentials in produce and meat so it is unsurprising that they are the discounter's highest selling categories. Aldi's Super 6 is an effective way to drive volume within these categories, with six items in both produce and meat priced down for a week at a time. Aldi's communication of British sourcing is also effective in driving meat sales.

5. Flexing by format

Within Aldi's estate there are seven 'city' stores located on busy high streets. Including unique features such as food-to-go, in-store bakery and standing tills, Aldi has adapted these stores to provide a more convenient offer to suit the location and footfall. With more of these stores in the pipeline, particularly in London, it is clear that Aldi is evolving to suit customers needs and lifestyles. Indeed there remains large scope to expand the store portfolio, both in its traditional and newer formats.

Source: IGD