Asda sales shrink as customers switch to supermarket rivals

Asda said it is investing heavily into improving its store standards, product availability and staffing hours.

Asda sales declined in the latest quarter as it lost market share (Chris Radburn/PA) (PA Wire)

Asda sales dropped further over the latest quarter as the debt-laden grocery giant lost more customers to its largest rivals.

Bosses at the UK’s third-largest supermarket chain admitted it has seen its share of the grocery market shrink in recent months.

Michael Gleeson, the retailer’s finance chief, said it is investing heavily into improving its store standards, product availability and staffing hours in order to address concerns over customers’ shopping experience.

Asda is investing £30 million to increase staff levels to improve its replenishment of stock and cleaning in stores.

It came as the company, which is owned by Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital, revealed that total revenues, excluding fuel, were up 2% for the first half of 2024, although like-for-like sales slipped by 2.1%.

Revenues in the second quarter of the year were down 2.2%, with a 5.3% like-for-like decline, as its sales slump accelerated.

Last month’s industry data from Kantar found that Asda had 12.7% of the UK grocery market over the three months to July 7, shrinking from a 13.6% share of the market a year earlier.

It came as major rivals including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons all gained customers, according to the research.

On Thursday, Mr Gleeson said: “It is important to highlight that switching losses to the discounters, Aldi and Lidl as well, have receded.

“We have addressed that well with our price matching programme and are pleased with that.

“It’s clear Sainsbury’s and Tesco have also stepped up in that regard to stem those losses and have seen success with member pricing.

“Clearly Morrisons have also done a lot better according to the latest data but we are coming up against tougher year-on-year comparisons.

“We are still happy with the longer-term progress we have been making.”

In the fresh update, Asda also revealed that online sales grew over the latest quarter, with a 1.4% rise in online grocery and 3.9% jump in George.com sales.

Mohsin Issa, Asda co-owner, said: “These results highlight a period of robust online performance and a record start to George’s Back-to-School campaign.

“As we move forward, we remain committed to maintaining our value credentials, enhancing the product offer, and executing our long-term growth strategy to build an even stronger Asda for our customers and communities.”

The update comes two months after Mohsin Issa’s brother Zuber exited Asda, selling his 22.5% stake to TDR Capital to focus on his petrol forecourts business.