We’ve been hearing and seeing a lot about the ‘new supermarket shopper’ for a while now. In Australia, it’s the rise of the ALDI shopper whereas in the UK, it’s the Lidl Shopper. The Lidl Shopper is a savvy shopper – defined more by their attitudes and lack of loyalty than they are by demographics.

So it was with some interest that the political parties are now talking about Lidl Britain. They’ve moved on from the White Van Man or the Essex Man. The new buzz term in the UK is now ‘Lidl Britain’.

It’s around 70 days until the UK election and it is this group of people that many are describing as the group that will determine the election result. So…who are they?

According to reports, they’re money conscious, bargain hunters, have switched political parties in the past, have no real ties at present, and their loyalty lies with the better value deal. Basically they just want to get some value from either their shop or the party that they vote for.

From our perspective, we’re seeing some interesting points:

1. This shouldn’t come as a surprise – the supermarket shopper is also the consumer who is also the voter. They are also the holiday traveller, the employee and the footballer supporter. Brands and political parties shouldn’t look at their ‘customers’ in isolation.  There’s a buzz around the single customer view and we know the insight actually lies in the holistic view of the consumer.
2. Politics and supermarket shopping overlap more than both sectors probably realise. Habit is increasingly strong in both.  Have a look at the previous American elections to see the voting consistency by States or ask a Coles shopper to do their main grocery shop in Woolworths and you’ll see how ritualistic both experiences are. So to break a habit, you need the cue and trigger shake someone out of their sub conscious behaviour. You then follow this up with the reward to keep them in that habit. What does this means for the UK election?   Well, it’s all fine to talk about targeting the Lidl shopper, but how are you going to break them out of their apathetic and disloyal habit at the moment?
3. Our insight, free of charge: speak to the Lidl customer to understand what Lidl is offering both emotionally and functionally and then innovate based on these benefits so you can translate them into political messaging and benefits. David, Ed and Nick – our number is on the website.