Case Study: Lidl achieves rapid U.S. expansion insights and improved purchase conversion with Service Management Group (SMG)

Lidl - Customer Case Study

Lidl, the German discount grocery retailer expanding into select U.S. markets in 2017, needed to understand whether the qualities driving its European success would translate stateside—building brand recognition, converting trial visits into repeat shopping trips, and addressing early customer‑experience gaps. Service Management Group (SMG) supported this effort using its BrandGeek solution, powered by the visit‑detected mobile research app SurveyMini, to combine precise location analytics with near‑real‑time customer feedback.

SMG’s BrandGeek analysis showed Lidl’s visit share grew across the first three months (peaking around 1.8% overall and stealing up to 2.8% of visits from Kroger) before dipping, and identified that 16% of visits were one‑and‑done trial shoppers who traveled 4.4 miles farther than usual. The work also revealed a high early non/partial‑purchase rate (24%) and below‑average satisfaction on several CX measures; after SMG’s insights were applied, non/partial purchases fell to 13%, 87% of customers reported buying as much or more than intended (7 points above the grocery average), and satisfaction and loyalty scores moved above industry averages.

Lidl