Toilet paper, flour and baking powder: are they running out of Aldi, Rewe and Co. now?

“We have to stay out.” Dog owners are familiar with this charm, which can be found at the entrance of many shops as a sign with a dog in the photo and reminds them that their four-legged friends are not allowed to enter the shop. Discounter Lidl is now expanding this ad into the current partial block. Hamsters are now also undesirable in branches. For which the animal itself is not intended.

On the Instagram platform, Lidl sends a reminder to its customers. You can see a drawing of a hamster there, circled in bold red and crossed out. “Against the backdrop of the current situation we are sadly forced to adjust our door policy,” is written next to the picture on the discounter’s social media profile, decorated with emojis to make it clear to take this message with humor.

So the background is pretty serious. Because hamster purchases in supermarkets and discount stores have started again in this country, as shown by data from IRI market researchers and the Federal Statistical Office. The above-average demand is mainly toilet paper, but also other hygiene products, as well as flour, yeast and sugar or baked goods and, last but not least, long-life staples.

Lidl therefore asks its customers for consideration. “Our goal is to be there for everyone equally, and we can only do that if everyone thinks of their fellow man and not just themselves,” says the Instagram post, combined with the request, only in the future to buy what you really need. “We’re not running away from you.”

140 percent more toilet paper

The reactions to this post are twofold: some are amused or celebrate Lidl’s marketing department, others apparently feel bullied and are outraged or angry.

But these days, the calls for rational buying behavior aren’t just coming from Lidl. The competitor Aldi Nord also caters to consumers, including via Instagram. You can see a stick figure with a hat and a pack of toilet paper in his hand on the corporate channel.

“This is Paul” is written next to it in capital letters. “Paul goes to Aldi Nord to buy toilet paper. Paul only buys what he needs. Paul takes others into consideration. Paul is smart “, is the further message, which finally ends with a request:” Be like Paul “.

Aldi Süd also reports that “in mid-October there was indeed an increase in demand for some products”. In the foreground: toilet paper.

The market researcher IRI’s so-called crown tracker shows an increase in demand initially of 69.3% and then as much as 97.6% for calendar weeks 42 and 43, when autumn holidays were in most federal states and the The subject of housing bans caused a lot of excitement in this country the respective week of the previous year.

According to IRI, the plus is distributed in all regions, albeit with slightly higher values ​​in the south of the republic, as well as in all forms of distribution, from supermarkets and discount stores to hypermarkets and drugstores.

The data from the Federal Statistical Office point in the same direction. According to this, toilet tissue sales in mid-October were almost 140% higher than the level of the months before the crisis, from August 2019 to January 2020. In the last week of October, in which the federal government announced the partial blockade, they were only 84%.

“It is possible that the appeals from politics and business associations have had at least part of an effect,” suggest the statisticians. In any case, the numbers were considerably higher in the spring; sales of disinfectants, for example, increased eightfold at the time. It is currently just over double the pre-crisis level.

Not a problem for Rewe and Penny

Still, there are enough goods for everyone if they buy accordingly, assures retailers. “We take into account the evolution of demand in the ordering process and when reordering products, the branches also take into account the respective local demand,” says Aldi Süd.

“Based on the experience of the last few months, we are monitoring very closely the fluctuations in demand to avoid bottlenecks in deliveries. Basically, we are prepared for increased demand and currently do not expect any restrictions on availability. ”

There is therefore no reason to buy hamsters. In this case, Aldi and other retailers limit the quantities. “If the demand for certain products in individual branches significantly exceeds normal domestic quantities, colleagues can, if necessary, decide on a limited supply.”

To Rewe and Penny, however, this doesn’t seem to be a problem. In any case, the Cologne office reports “all normal” upon request regarding the demand in the approximately 5500 branches throughout the country. However, since the start of the pandemic, the number of sales, especially for hygiene items, has been consistently above average.