Lidl Ireland customers can now plan ahead with WhatsApp chatbot

Lidl Ireland is launching a WhatsApp chatbot to help people shop at the quietest periods during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Just send a message with the day and time you intend to visit and it’ll instantly let you know whether that’s a quieter/average/busier time to visit,” the retailer says in a LinkedIn post.

“We've analysed our shopper behaviour over the past couple of weeks to find the quietest time to head into store - of course some stores will vary slightly,” it adds.

Further details here.

GMB spat

Last month, Lidl UK slammed the “entirely inaccurate and misleading nature” of a coronavirus-related press release issued by the GMB union.

This saw the GMB calling on Lidl to guarantee full pay for Covid-19 related absences.

In a statement sent to RTIH, the retailer said that the press release did not reflect thorough information shared with the union, “highlighting the measures that we have implemented and options available to our employees. To be clear, options are available to colleagues whereby they will continue to receive full pay.”

The press release noted that last year Lidl saw its share of supermarket sales rise by almost 8%, and in recent weeks it has hired an extra 2,500 staff to meet demand.

“It can only be right that they use some of those increased profits to help stop the spread of coronavirus, and to recognise the hard work of their loyal employees at this worrying time. Otherwise it looks quite plain and simple, that they value their profits more than the value beating Covid-19,” said Lorraine Gaskell, GMB organiser at Lidl.

“We note their reference to profits. As a privately-owned business, these specific details are not in the public domain, therefore the GMB's information is completely baseless,” Lidl responded.

"Our teams across every part of our business are doing an incredible job ensuring customers continue to have access to the food they need during this very challenging time, for which we are endlessly grateful and incredibly proud,” it added.

Lidl said that it had introduced various support mechanisms for all of its colleagues, whether they continued to work or were unable to. This included an enhanced commitment of 12 weeks’ full pay for those that fell within vulnerable groups.

“Where it is not possible to work from home and colleagues are having to self-isolate, there are a number of options available whereby they will continue to receive full pay. We are working closely with government and are constantly reviewing their guidance, whilst actively exploring and introducing measures that provide additional support,” the statement concluded.

The GMB did not respond to our request for comment.