“Christmas is coming to town”! In the streets, we can already witness the season’s traditions. And, since October, at Lidl supermarkets in Portugal, it’s possible to find codfish, the typical dish on Portuguese tables. Right next to it, there are, of course, our scales to weigh it.
Since 2013, when Lidl decided to start selling cod, BM3 suspension scale began to show up all over the country. The supermarket chain invested on a Balanças Marques’ solution for its new project and the partnership is up until today, making this a new heavy challenge to our company.
Who is our client?
Lidl Portugal
Lidl is an international supermarket chain, based in Germany. It was founded in 1973 as a part of Schwarz group, the biggest retailer in Europe and one of the largest in the world. With a quick growth in its country of origin, the brand started its internationalization in the 1980’s and, today, it is present in 30 countries, including Portugal, Spain and the United Stares of America (USA).
The company arrived in Portuguese territory in 1995, with the opening of a warehouse in Sintra and of 13 stores all over the country. Since then, it has already conquered its place on the national market and nowadays it has four logistic centres and over 245 commercial spaces in the various regions.
Focused on a customer-driven strategy, Lidl has continuously invested in the country. Besides the recent investment in remodelling several stores, the supermarket chain has been diversifying its products’ catalogue over the years, in a quest to satisfy the needs and demands of the Portuguese consumer. Today, it sells fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as freshly baked bread throughout the year. And, on festive times, it completes its offer with salted cod, typical on Portuguese families’ tables.
An investment that has been accompanied by the brand’s growth in Portugal, where it was elected a Superbrand for several consecutive years.
What challenge did it present us with?
When Lidl decided to launch a pilot-project in Portugal, with the selling of cod on Christmas and Easter’s time, it came across a new need. It would be necessary to assemble a mobile section with the ability to cut and weigh cod, as well as to manage the customer service.
Looking for a complete solution, the supermarket chain chose to work with Globalcold, one of Balanças Marques’ partners. Specialized in refrigeration and on the commercialization of equipment, Globalcold provided all the necessary material to the functioning of Lidl’s new section: the furniture on stainless steel, the cutting machines, the lines’ management system and also the scales.
For the weighing equipment, and not before a few meetings with LxPack – part of Grupo José Pimenta Marques -, the company decided the most adequate alternative for the German brand was with our scales. Later, LxPack acompanied our partner to present our solution to Lidl and show them we offered the best option for the intended use.
Convinced that they had found the ideal solution, Lidl made the decision of going forward with the project and supported the choice of Balanças Marques, also because we are the national partner, with all the in-doors equipment.
What solution did we present them with?
The weighing solution presented by Balanças Marques for the cod section on Lidl’s supermarkets was BM3 suspension scale. Specially developed to retail businesses and conceived for places with less space, this equipment doesn’t only weigh, but it is also capable of issuing labels.
It arrived at the brand store in Linda-a-Velha for the first time in 2015 in order to be used on the pilot-project’s implementation.
When the experience reached its end, the selling of cod on Lidl supermarkets revealed to be a success, as well as the use of the BM3 scale. Satisfied with the equipment and with the availability shown by Balanças Marques, the supermarket chain established a relationship of trust with our company. The partnership began to develop and Lidl bought more of Marques’ products in the two following years.
Nowadays, on Christmas and Easter time, there are Marques’ scales operating on the German supermarkets, in Portugal. Every year, after the codfish campaigns, we go to Lidl’s four logistic centres to check and, if necessary, calibrate and repair the scales, in order to guarantee its maintenance.
Through our partner Globalcold and the word of LxPack, we evolved from a pilot-project, to apply in a single store, to a partnership that covers all the national park and includes a maintenance contract with one of the largest retail groups in the world.
