The discount retailer Lidl has been aggressively promoting its bonus program “Lidl Plus” for months. MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann tested the program for 30 days and explains how much he saved and whether Lidl Plus is really worth it.
What is Lidl Plus anyway? Lidl Plus is a bonus, a customer, and an incentive system from the retail chain Lidl. It is comparable to Payback or myMediamarkt/Saturn. The program is free of charge.
Lidl has been aggressively advertising its bonus program for months, partly with bonus promotions such as fuel vouchers.
What do you need? To use Lidl Plus, you need a mobile number and the Lidl Plus app. You do not necessarily have to enter an address or your real name, but without a mobile number or app, you won’t get far. Lidl Plus is purely a digital offering.
What should I pay attention to? In principle, Lidl Plus is free; you do not pay any fees like with Amazon Prime. However, like with any free product, you are mainly paying with your data. When using it, you must confirm the privacy notices, giving Lidl the right to process your data, determine product interests, and compare you with other customers.
Who tested this?
I am the Tech Editor at MeinMMO and have been testing hardware for our readers for many years. Gaming mice, in particular, are among my absolute favorites. In addition to the PS5, I also play on my Steam Deck.
Transparency note: I tested Lidl Plus privately in everyday life and paid for all my purchases myself.
Benedikt Schlotmann
Hardware editor MeinMMO
Individual offers can be unbeatable
How does Lidl Plus work? In the supermarket, some products are marked with an additional discount that you only get if you scan Lidl Plus at checkout. There are also coupons that you receive when you shop at Lidl. Additionally, there are irregular coupons that allow you to get a specific product for free. When you scan your “Lidl Plus” app at checkout, the benefits are automatically activated. You have to activate the coupons yourself.
This is really good: Every now and then, private labels are on sale, and it can be really worth it. The discount competition like Aldi, Netto, and Co. cannot keep up because Lidl generally undercuts the regular market prices significantly:
- For example, there was the store brand spaghetti for 0.59 euros instead of 0.79 euros for a week in October. At that time, you could not find spaghetti anywhere cheaper, and it is still not available at that price.
- In the current 41st calendar week, store brand yogurt is available for 0.55 euros (instead of 0.85 euros). This is also very cheap compared to the regular price and the competition.
- In the 40th calendar week, there was a 20% discount on the expensive store brand cat food “Coshida Pure Taste.” Instead of 2.49 euros, I only paid 1.99 euros. This is also worthwhile. However, there is a limitation: Lidl had raised the price a few months ago from 2.19 euros to 2.49 euros. This significantly reduces the price advantage.
In such moments, you can really save cash, especially since the offers are significantly better when you compare them with the competition. Especially with everyday products like pasta, milk, and Co. If the promotions actually exist.
Often only expensive products on sale that are still too pricey
The first problem: The whole thing with the offers has a catch: Often, expensive brand products or “organic” are at the advantage in price.
If you shop frugally or strategically, you will still find the house brands or “regular” fruits to be significantly cheaper. Two examples for comparison:
- A Milka chocolate bar is 25% cheaper in the 45th calendar week with Lidl Plus and costs 1.11 euros (without discount 1.49 euros).
- Lidl’s store brand “Fin Carre Alpine Milk Chocolate” costs 0.69 euros without the offer. The Milka bar costs still double in comparison to the kilogram, even with the reduction.
- For apples from the “Bioland” brand, you pay only 2.49 euros per kilo instead of 2.99 euros.
- The inexpensive and very delicious Braeburn apple variety is already available for 1.49 euros per kilo, and that is the standard price.
And this problem extends over dozens of offers at Lidl. It usually appears that Lidl is trying to lure customers into buying expensive products rather than choosing the cheap house brands. This, despite Lidl advertising for months that you can choose between private label and brand.
The second problem: The in-house competition and discount promotions outside of Lidl Plus are usually significantly better. Because many discounts can also be used without Lidl Plus:
- Discounts at the bakery (6 rolls for the price of 4).
- 30% on meat just before the expiration date.
- Large XXL packages at Lidl.
- Regular weekly offers in the catalog, where milk, butter, eggs, and cheese, among others, also become 10 or 15% cheaper for a week. Completely without Lidl Plus.
- In other offers, you can “only” save additionally with Lidl Plus. Then the yogurts cost in the normal offer instead of 0.79 euros only 0.33 euros. With Lidl Plus, you save another 4 cents (0.29 euros).
Additionally, other discounters like Aldi or Netto are also actively participating in offers.
To put it simply: If you are really looking for cheap prices and shopping accordingly, you are better off than with Lidl Plus or other bonus systems. Lidl Plus is usually only worthwhile at specific times. There were several days and purchases where I did not save a single cent with Lidl Plus.
Lidl Plus is not worth it or only very limited
How much have I saved? Overall, in October 2024, I made most of my purchases at Lidl for this experiment and spent 173.92 euros. I saved 9.27 euros thanks to Lidl Plus. That is about 5.3%. The savings are distributed quite evenly over the weeks. This is how much I saved on the following days (prices in euros, only savings through Lidl Plus, not total sales):
- 0.40 € (11.10)
- 1.15 € (12.10)
- 0.65 € (21.10)
- 0.65 € (25.10)
- 0.65 € (26.10)
- 4.06 € (29.10)
- 1.71 € (31.10)
Was Lidl Plus worth it? According to the numbers, I saved around 10 euros. In my view, it was only partially worth it for me personally. Because often the products I constantly buy, such as butter, cheese, or oats, are never or very rarely on sale. And often, the regular weekly discount promotions that you can also use without Lidl Plus are simply better.
On the other hand, I tend to buy more when there is a discount. When Lidl had its cat food on sale, several bags ended up in my shopping cart, which I did not necessarily have to do. Theoretically, I am saving but still spending more. That pleases Lidl but not my wallet.
At the same time, it must also be emphasized that I am paying dearly for the discount of about 10 euros with my customer data: the big beneficiary of the action is ultimately Lidl and not the customer.
If you don’t care about data collection and are happy with every discount and free promotion you can get, then Lidl Plus is quite interesting. Personally, I will cancel Lidl Plus after the experiment.
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