For several days, Lidl sneakers have been a great success on the Web. Sold in a limited edition at 12.99 euros in Belgium and 19.95 euros in Germany, the pairs sold on the web have reached the delusional price of 1255 euros on eBay. Red, yellow and blue, marked with the Lidl logo on the tongue, this pair of shoes, unavailable in France, arouses lust.
“When I saw the craze on social networks, I quickly bought two pairs. I found the initiative funny and then I'm a fan of sneakers, ”says Julian Zedam, who lives in Berlin. With only 300 to 400 pairs available, Lidl Belgium has created a real craze. In April, during the first operation, the success was immediate: all the sneakers were sold in just one day. Same scenario on July 1st.
Initially, socks distributed to influencers
The crazy history of this basketball goes back to 2018, on the sidelines of Amsterdam Fashion Week. Lidl then presented in partnership with the model Heidi Klum his fifth collection, "Esmara by Heidi Klum". “We distributed white socks with the Lidl logo to the guests. It had caused a buzz on social networks thanks to influencers and that's where we thought there was something to do, ”says Julien Wathieu, spokesperson for Lidl Belgium and Luxembourg.
A year later, inspired by the successful sock, the parent company presents to the subsidiaries in European countries a new line of clothing marked with the brand's logo. "At the time, I didn't believe it at all," says Michel Biero, executive director of purchasing and marketing at Lidl France, who nevertheless ordered 230 pairs for influencers. Today, faced with the success of the sneaker on social networks, Michel Biero does not hide his surprise: "If you had told me a few months ago that Lidl shoes stamped with the logo would make the buzz ...! "
Available in France at the end of the year
For Andreas Kaplan, teacher-researcher at ESCP specializing in social networks and viral marketing, this success owes nothing to chance. "Lidl is based on drop culture, already used by big names in basketball, and which consists in limiting stocks to create scarcity, specifies the researcher. The fact that a shoe at 13 euros is sold much more expensive on the Internet creates the illusion of a high-end product. "
French customers, on the other hand, will have to wait. "The problem is that we have to order nine to twelve months in advance," explains Michel Biero. We will probably have them by the end of the year. For the impatient who dream of this new pair, the brand plans to organize a competition on social networks with the items from the new clothing line Lidl, including certainly fifty pairs of this basketball.