Pingo Doce gains on Continente as Lidl widens gap to Mercadona

Pingo Doce narrowed the gap to market leader Continente in Portugal’s grocery sector in the first half of 2026, while Lidl strengthened its hold on third place and moved further ahead of Mercadona, according to Worldpanel by Numerator data obtained by ECOnews. The figures show how competition is shifting in one of Portugal’s largest consumer markets.

Continente, owned by Sonae, kept the lead with a 27.6% market share, while Jerónimo Martins’ Pingo Doce reached 22.3%, reducing the distance between the two chains by 1.2 percentage points. Together, the two groups accounted for exactly half of Portugal’s food retail market. Lidl held 13.8%, while Mercadona’s share slipped by 0.1 percentage point to 7.4%, marking the first time since entering Portugal that the Spanish chain has faced resistance in gaining share.

Worldpanel by Numerator said Pingo Doce’s advance was driven by shopper loyalty, with customers visiting more often and spending more per trip. Lidl’s growth was also linked more to stronger engagement from existing shoppers than to expansion into many more households. By contrast, Mercadona continued to attract new customers, with 55.6% of Portuguese households shopping there in the first half, up from 53.1% a year earlier, but lost momentum in purchase frequency, basket size and spending per visit.

According to Marta Santos, country manager of Worldpanel by Numerator Portugal, Mercadona’s limited range remains a constraint in the local market, where shoppers often split purchases across several chains and value both promotions and access to manufacturer brands. The consultancy’s data is based on actual purchases by a panel of 4,000 households representing the roughly 4 million families in mainland Portugal.

Originally published at Eco.pt