Discount Retail Chains ALDI South and ALDI North excluding Trader Joe's increased their combined global sales by 8.7% to 112 billion euros in 2023, setting a new sales record. According to a company spokesperson, ALDI North achieved total sales of 29 billion euros, an increase of around 7.5 percent (2022: 27 billion euros). ALDI Süd even posted sales of 83 billion euros (2022: 76 billion euros). Even though both regions are legally independent companies, they are usually seen as one company by the public, also due to their close business connections. ALDI Nord's gross sales in Germany are expected to have risen by 6.6 % to around 15 billion euros in 2023. ALDI Süd also reports a very good sales development and was able to gain further market share. ALDI now operates a total of around 12,000 stores worldwide.
This is to be steadily expanded, in the USA alone up with another 800 new stores are planned at the end of 2028. To this end, about 9 billion dollars (8.22 billion euros) are to be invested in expansion over the next few years.
Strong international business due to numerous new openings
ALDI recorded the largest growth abroad in the last financial year. ALDI Süd in particular has recently been able to open numerous new locations in the USA and Great Britain. Last summer, ALDI Süd was able to take over all 397 supermarkets of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi from parent company Southeastern Grocers. Here, some of the stores have been converted into ALDI discounters, while others continue to operate as Winn Dixie and Harveys supermarket stores.
In the UK, too, the signs are pointing to expansion. The mark of 50,000 employees in Great Britain is to be cracked before the end of the year. So far, ALDI UK has around 45,000 employees. The Discounter operates more than 1,000 stores in the UK and plans to open around 500 new stores here as well. According to its own information, it is investing about 1.4 billion pounds in expansion in Great Britain last year and this year. ALDI works with around 5,000 suppliers throughout the UK and has been named the best discounter for fair and trusting business relationships in the annual GSCOP survey (Groceries Supply Code of Practice) for ten years.
LIDL also on course for growth in the UK
Discount competitor LIDL also published new figures a few weeks ago. According to the company, revenues at the Schwarz subsidiary rose by 9.4% to 125.5 billion euros in the past fiscal year 2023/24. Retail experts also see one reason for the strong growth of discounters in changed consumer habits in view of increased inflation. The strong expansion in the USA is putting pressure on LIDL, which currently has only 175 stores in the USA since 2017. Things are already looking better in Great Britain and, according to data from the market research institute Kantar, LIDL is even the sixth largest retailer in the country with a market share of 7.5% with more than 960 stores.
Read more: ALDI mit weltweiten Rekordumsatz von 112 Milliarden € - Supermarkt Inside (supermarkt-inside.de)
