LIDL’s Limited Edition Sneakers Sell for $6,700 on eBay
Don’t underestimate the power of scarcity
Don’t underestimate the power of scarcity
Global budget supermarket LIDL has its €15 (around $16) sneakers selling for $6,744 online — a resale mark-up of over 42,000%.
This all started last September when the German branch of LIDL decided to run a contest for some limited edition shoes.
Users were asked to stand on a particular spot in German stores and take a picture using the LIDL app. This app would virtually superimpose the shoes onto the shopper’s feet.
By posting that photo to Instagram using the hashtag #LIDLsneakers, they were entered into a prize draw to win one of 400 pairs of these limited edition sneakers.
Since that point, the shoes have gone viral and are commanding hefty prices on the global resale markets. This is why.
The Genius Behind the Contest
The sneakers were part of the “Your LIDL Prize” campaign and had three very interesting components:
Entrants had to participate in-store, maximizing the chances that people would buy something from the store.
Entrants would need to participate through the official LIDL app, allowing LIDL to market to them in future through push notifications or special offers.
Entrants had to become brand advocates and promote LIDL via their own Instagram to be in with a chance of winning these limited edition sneakers.
In marketing, we may call that the holy trifecta. You get data to re-target or market to customers, increase brand advocacy, and increase foot traffic in stores. Voilà.
Jürgen Achenbach, the managing director of marketing for LIDL Germany, said, “The sneaker campaign encourages Lidl fans to become active on social media and share content. In this way, we generate a high proportion of earned media.”
Throwing Fuel on the Fire
Sending 400 pairs to lucky winners in Germany wasn’t enough to satiate the demand created for these shoes online.
LIDL knew that scarcity is a powerful marketing tool. As the winners began to resell their shoes for crazy prices, the demand from customers grew stronger.
$16 sneakers aren’t cool — but ultra-popular, scarce products are cool. That’s Supreme’s entire business strategy because the resale market does your marketing for you.
LIDL decided to throw fuel onto the fire and release a small run of these shoes in select European locations. As the stores opened in Finland, Twitter users reported that the entire supply was gone in under ten seconds.
The Finnish auction site Tori saw users listing these shoes for as high as €6,000, which is around $6,744 USD— as captured by Twitter user Jesse Kuparinen.
In the U.K., where I live, I could find recently completed listings for these sneakers for £220 on eBay. Although not as impressive, that’s still a markup of 1,471%.
Less impressive perhaps, but considering LIDL has not sold these shoes in the UK yet, nor has plans to, the German campaign’s impact has still reached our shores.
For the reseller of this pair, it’s over a 93% profit margin, shipping excluded.
There aren’t many physical products that reach that level of profitability. That margin is usually reserved for digital downloads, ebooks, and online courses.
So as it’s yet to be rolled out globally, or even into major markets like the U.K. or U.S., one thing is for sure: LIDL’s ability to leverage the power of scarcity has massively increased their brand equity.
A budget supermarket creating a streetwear commodity is unheard of, but this seemingly irrelevant product offering is exactly what made it a hit — because it’s exclusive. It’s scarce.
Less will always be able to demand more.