Lidl Trials their Own Wallet

The German retail group Lidl tests Lidl Pay (name coined as no further details had been provided during their pilot phase).

Lidl Pay is a QR code-based mobile payment option accessible through the “Lidl Plus” loyalty app.
This service is tested in 5 towns in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Saragossa, Sevilla and Malaga). It should later on be rolled out in Germany, in Austria, in Poland and in Denmark (all countries where Lidl Plus has already been made available).
Customer process: The customer process hasn’t yet been precisely described but this option will be available via Lidl Plus, through the “Mi cartera” tab, enabling customers to store their card information. At checkout, they would scan a QR code displayed in-app and validate their transaction using their preferred option (code or fingerprint recognition). Their loyalty coupons will automatically be redeemed and a digital receipt (stored in-app) will be sent.

Capturing payment data. Lidl deems that this test phase is a way to address some of their concerns as regards to the increasing number of payment solutions featured by Web giants. These industry leaders are getting hold of transactional data and the profit it ensures.
Lidl would intend to use this data alone and rely on it for the sake of customising customer experience and crafting new services (based on analysing behavioural information).
Cutting down transaction costs. Lidl Pay is also meant to cut down transaction costs. To this respect, Lidl would be considering a direct debit-based option in Germany: a way for them to avoid being changed Visa and Mastercard fees.

In PWC’s assessments, in Germany, one fourth of the population already relies on their phone to pay for purchases. This share hits 46% with under 30 customer segments: a favourable context for in-store mobile payments to take off.
The rival group Aldi made room for Apple Pay and Google Pay; they would not he planning to issue their own payment solution.
Other retailers including Saturn, Netto and Edeka went for similar strategies. Saturn Smartpay was designed by MishiPay, enabling access to product information and letting customers pay in-store from their phone (to address waiting time issues at checkout). As with Lidl Pay, the point is to retrieve data later to be analysed. Lidl bets on adding this option in their existing loyalty app, hence contributing to increasing its use rates, as well.

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