Lidl launches ‘best time to shop’ on app

Photo: Lidl

Lidl has launched a new ‘best time to shop’ feature on its Lidl Plus loyalty app in the UK allowing shoppers to view real-time shopper numbers and avoid crowds. Lidl Plus app users will now be asked to input their local store in a bar situated at the top of the homepage. Once they have found their nearest store in the ‘best time to shop’ tab, shoppers will be presented with a bar chart displaying how many shoppers were in the store at each trading hour throughout any day of the week.

The busiest times will be displayed in blue, while the quietest times will be shown in green and both are updated in real time. It comes almost a year after Lidl launched an online chatbot via WhatsApp so customers could avoid peak shopping times in their local store.

This similar service was launched as a trial in May last year in Ireland, allowing shoppers to message Lidl through the Facebook-owned app informing the chatbot of the day and time they intend to visit. The chatbot will then inform them if this is generally a quiet, average or busy time to visit, the supermarket said in a LinkedIn post.