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A French appeals court has ordered German discount supermarket chain Lidl to pay €43 million ($50 million) to rival French retailer Intermarche after ruling that hundreds of television advertisements constituted deceptive marketing practices.
The Paris appeals court delivered its decision July 4, finding that more than 370 television spots aired by Lidl between 2017 and 2023 were likely to mislead consumers and violated fair competition standards. The ruling overturned a 2022 lower court decision that had initially favored Lidl.
At the center of the dispute was Lidl's failure to ensure advertised products were available at the promoted prices across all of its French stores for the required 15-week period. The appeals court determined that while Lidl prominently displayed products and prices in its advertisements, the company relegated crucial information about participating stores to small print or brief voice-over mentions directing consumers to check its website.
The court found these disclosures were "likely to go unnoticed by the consumer or at the very least be misunderstood," creating a misleading impression about product availability.
The ruling went beyond simple deceptive advertising, with the judge determining that Lidl's knowledge of limited product availability across its store network elevated the violations from misleading practices to unfair competition. This finding opened the door for Intermarche to seek financial compensation from its German rival.
Lidl operates more than 1,600 stores across France as part of its broader European expansion strategy. The company has not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding potential appeals of the decision.
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