Perhaps you’re right but this would not influence my boycotts. My rationale for considering Lidl small is that their per-shop inventory is small with a narrow range of products, which I assume implies they move less product compared to huge stores like Carrefour Market and Delhaize. Carrefour and Delhaize are not so tight on real estate that they have to rotate non-food inventory the way Lidl & Aldi do.

I direct my boycotts to the relatively worst players. For me that’s Carrefour & Delhaize. Rationale:

• Delhaize is under an organized boycott
• Delhaize’s website blocks Tor users
• Delhaize has a privacy-offending loyalty card which ties the cost of privacy to food
• Delhaize’s self-scan option is not offered to cash payers (#WarOnCash)
• Carrefour’s website blocks Tor users
• Carrefour has a privacy-offending loyalty card which ties the cost of privacy to food
• Carrefour’s self-scan option is no longer offered to cash payers

If I were to see a shoplift at one of the above boycotted stores, I’d let it happen. But that’s hypothetical because I’m never in the shops I boycott.

Lidl and Aldi come out ahead ethically. Lidl does have a loyalty program that affects food prices but that in itself is not enough to condemn them against Carrefour & Delhaize. OTOH Lidl has the “zero waste” program. When food reaches the day of expiry, the price for the package becomes a flat 12—50¢ regardless of the weight/size. That’s so cheap it’s almost like shoplifting (but legit). If you notice something expires today as you stand in line and there is no “zero waste” sticker, you simply tell the cashier and they give it the zero waste price. It’s a good way to reduce food waste. That’s not mere appearances… that is progressive. Lidl is also easy going about returns.

I won’t participate in the loyalty programs that keep a DB on me, so I avoid products that have a Lidl Plus promo and call it fair enough.

Just a week ago I saw a comical shoplifting attempt. A guy had a bottle of spirits of some kind with the neck of it sticking out of his jacket. He just walked through the line parallel to the person being rung up. The cashier said “mister!” and he started jogging out. Two cashiers left their registers and bolted out the door after him. They caught up with him down the street. One of them collected the items he tried to jack, and the other cashier grabbed him by the collar and marched him back into the store and left my view… probably took him to a back room for some kind of processing.

I was surprised by a few things. I would not think cashiers would have the authority to search and detain someone. But I was more surprised by their energy and motivation. If they were overworked and underpaid, and did not give a shit about their employer, why the motivation to spot a shoplifter and chase them down the street, get physical, and perhaps even take some legal risk not having the power of the police?

Big business often implies unethical conduct. But not necessarily. If a business is big, it’s wise to look for unethical conduct and if something is found, then boycott. But being big in itself is insufficient for boycotts and theft. There are actually quite big competitors of Lidl which have significant ethical problems (Carrefour and Delhaize).