If you shop at Lidl, you have probably noticed that this store chain does not accept payment in meal vouchers. And this is clearly no coincidence, but there is a very good reason for this.
According to Cnews, if the discounter accepted this payment method, it would lose money. Indeed, we know that its profit margins are around 3%, or even below. But the administration costs necessary for processing meal vouchers are around 4% in France. Therefore, if Lidl accepted meal vouchers, it would have to increase its prices, which would be totally counterproductive.
Lidl wants to attract its customers
In any case, this subject of paying for groceries with meal vouchers has been talked about a lot lately. The government, which had planned to drastically limit this practice from January 1, finally backed down in the face of the outcry.
At the same time, this is not necessarily to the taste of restaurateurs, like Thierry Marx, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industrialists (Umih). Guest of France Info, the latter said he feared that the meal ticket would turn into a shopping cart voucher. And the manager added: “6% of these meal vouchers go to mass distribution”or, according to him, a loss of 200 million euros for French restaurateurs.
Although Lidl does not accept restaurant vouchers, it has however just launched a vast commercial operation for its customers in the run-up to Christmas. As we told you this Monday, 100,000 Monsieur Cuisine Smart robots will be on sale from December 4 to 11 at a price of 360 euros each.
Everyone who purchases this device will benefit from a voucher of 30 euros every month for one year. Which makes Thiago Almeida, the new operational boss of the discounter, say:
As 30 euros is approximately the average purchase ticket at Lidl, this means that once a month these customers will shop for free with us.
Note also that Lidl will distribute 100 million euros in the form of 5 euro reduction vouchers from December 6 to 12 on the Lidl Plus application. These reductions will also be present in the brand’s brochures. Be careful though, you can only use them from 50 euros of purchase.
What you must remember :
- Lidl refuses payment for groceries in restaurant vouchers
- Due to its very low profit margins, the discounter would lose money
- However, the company is planning major promotions in the run-up to the end-of-year holidays.
