Lidl expands Germany’s appetite for ecommerce

Lidl in Germany has acquired Kochzauber, a local grocery delivery company.

Kochzauber delivers boxes of ingredients for meal recipes, with prices starting from €39 per carton. The investment allows Lidl to expand its presence in the e-commerce market, as well as move into the high-potential recipe-box delivery market.
Recipe boxes are popular in the Nordics and Asia and as food to go is a growing trend in Germany, this service may become popular among its shoppers.

The acquisition will complement Lidl’s existing online offer in Germany, which includes an expanding range of non food and ambient items, which the company distributes using the German postal service. Current categories offered online by lidl.de include wine, gifts, ambient grocery, baby, health & beauty, household and pet.

There are signs that shoppers in Germany are increasingly receptive to shopping online and a number of regional online grocery operations have been springing up across the country. Larger grocers including Rewe have also increased their online focus.

Lidl’s online expansion will also help the retailer gain expertise ahead of a widely anticipated, although unconfirmed, market entry by AmazonFresh into the German market next year. Amazon Pantry launched in Germany last month and, like Amazon, Lidl also already offers shoppers the opportunity to fill a box with a selection of ambient and household items for home delivery. Recipe boxes will give Lidl a further opportunity to expand its appeal and assortment to target busy families online.