In the UK, the Daily Mail reports that discounters Aldi and Lidl, each of which has been making strides in achieving market share increases at the expense of traditional retailers such as Tesco and Walmart-owned Asda, "are said to have become victims of their own success with customers put off by 'overcrowding' and huge queues ... Retail experts have suggested 'overcrowded' shops and 'understaffed tills' are leading to shoppers staying away."
However, both retailers have reported strong sales in the weeks before Christmas, and recently have been increasing employee wages and benefits as they compete for better employees.
However, both retailers have reported strong sales in the weeks before Christmas, and recently have been increasing employee wages and benefits as they compete for better employees.
- KC's View:
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The Yogi Berra reference in the headline, of course, comes from one of his more famous utterances - talking about a restaurant, he said, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
Let's just say for a moment that either or both discounters saw diminished returns over the holidays because of too-crowded stores that became problematic for shoppers. That wouldn't exactly be the strategy that I'd embrace of I were competing with them: Let's just wait until they get so successful that the business almost overwhelms them. That's when we'll have them exactly where we want them!
This doesn't strike me as a winning approach. It does strike me as some folks kidding themselves.
