Overview
- Aldi confirmed on July 23 that it will not offer discounts tied to supermarket apps and will keep the same checkout prices for all customers.
- Consumer group vzbv has sued Lidl, Penny and Netto arguing app discounts amount to trading price cuts for personal data, and legal outcomes so far are mixed.
- Appeals courts have dismissed the claims against Penny (OLG Hamm, decision with revision allowed) and against Netto (OLG Bamberg, judgment not yet final), while the Lidl case has been taken to the Bundesgerichtshof for a final ruling.
- Surveys and analyses show high app use but small average savings: about 78% of people use supermarket apps, two‑thirds say apps prompted extra purchases, nearly 29% avoid apps for privacy, and Smhaggle estimates average savings around 2 percent.
- Retailers defend their apps as GDPR‑compliant tools that deliver extra offers, but the pending Federal Court decision could set binding rules on whether describing an app as 'free' is misleading and whether app‑locked deals create an unfair two‑tier market.