Lidl top among retailers for using social media to build market share
Manager of Bord Bia’s Milan office, Mr MacHale said that Lidl is rated number one in the food sector in Europe and number two globally after just three years on Facebook, placing it ahead of Carrefour and Tesco in activity on Facebook.
“Irish brand owners active on social media should track their own performance to ensure continued relevance and engagement with their target group,” said Mr MacHale. “In Italy, ‘Food Explorers’ have been identified as a consumer group who are highly active in the digital communication channel, with 67% active on social media channels alone. “Lidl’s websites are very comprehensive and regularly updated, and their activity is an important point of differentiation for the retail sector, as social networks are often associated more closely with luxury brands. Gartner estimate that 50% of all internet sales globally will take place via social media by 2015.”
The Bord Bia marketing specialist said Lidl had 10.2m ‘likes’ globally; with 813,000 fans based in Italy, while they are physically present in a total of 16,000 stores in 22 countries.of these, 560 of its stores are in Italy.
“The digital revolution in Lidl began in 2011, Mr MacHale states in the latest edition of Food Alert, Bord Bia’s magazine for the Irish food trade. “Lidl has the greatest number of digital interactions with customers, responding to the greatest number of messages while also using the platform for corporate communications. adding: “Last year, for example, Lidl offered its Belgian Facebook fans the chance to create cupcakes to be added to its assortment.”
