Fierce rivalry between UK supermarkets looks set to heat up after German discount grocer Aldi announced plans to step up its expansion in Britain.
The UK’s so-called ‘big-four’ supermarkets - Tesco plc (LON:TSCO), J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY), WM Morrison Supermarkets plc (LON:MRW) and Asda – have been losing market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi's market share has doubled since 2010 and is the fifth largest UK supermarket. Its market share rose to 6.9% in the 12 weeks to 18 June compared to 6.1% the same period a year ago, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel.
Now Aldi threatens take to bigger chunk of the market with its plans to create 4,000 jobs in the UK as it opens more stores across the nation.
The company, which currently has more than 700 stores in Britain, said it remains on track to open 1,000 stores by 2022.
Its hiring spree will focus on extra store assistants and deputy store managers to help meet an increase in sales as customer numbers grow. The group attracted nearly one million new customers in the last year with the allure of its cheap prices.
"The success of Aldi in the UK is due to the hard work and commitment of our employees, and they are crucial to our future expansion plans," said Matthew Barnes, chief executive for Aldi UK and Ireland.
Aldi is also expanding its business in other parts of the globe. In January, it revealed plans to invest US$3.4bn over the next five years in opening 900 stores in the US. Similarly to the UK, Aldi is putting pressure on US retailers Wal-Mart and Kroger to lower their prices.