Asda’s recovery efforts have come under renewed pressure after fresh grocery market data showed the retailer was the only major UK supermarket to record a sales decline in the latest 12-week period.
According to figures from Worldpanel, reported by City AM, Asda generated £4bn in sales in the 12 weeks to 1 November, down 0.5% year on year. Its share of the UK grocery market also fell from 11.6% to 11.3% over the period.
The figures may come as a blow to the retailer, which in August said it had returned to underlying sales growth for the first time in more than two years, reporting a 0.2% increase in like-for-like sales excluding fuel during the seven weeks to 18 August. At the time, executive chairman Allan Leighton described the performance as a “major milestone” in the retailer’s turnaround programme.
Worldpanel’s market share data suggests those improvements may be proving difficult to sustain as competition intensifies across the grocery sector. City AM reported that customer demand increased at all of Asda’s major rivals during the period, with Lidl recording sales growth of 6.6% and Morrisons reporting growth of 2.0%.
Leadership change
The slowdown comes during a period of leadership change at the retailer. Former Morrisons chief executive David Potts recently took over the top job at Asda, while Leighton stepped back into a non-executive role.
While Asda has continued to invest in its proposition, including plans to roll out retail media capabilities through a partnership with Amazon Ad Services and launch its online grocery partnership with Ocado, the latest consumer spending data suggests the retailer remains under pressure to win back shoppers and stabilise market share.
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