Asda has seen strong online performance in Q2 with George.com sales rising by 3.9% and online grocery up 1.4%, but the big four supermarket admitted it needs to deliver “an enhanced and more consistent instore experience for customers”.
In its latest results, for the three months ending 30 June 2024, Asda reported total sales excluding fuel dropping 2.2% and like-for-like sales were down 5.3%.
Asda did celebrate its strongest George back-to-school campaign, as store sales increased 88% vs LY in the first two weeks of the campaign, with a sales increase of 13.5% to the end of Q2. But stressed it needed to continue its store transformation plans.
In Q2, the supermarket started a £50mn store upgrade programme across 171 stores, focused on upgrading its superstores and supermarkets. Enhancements and refreshes have already started at 130 of these stores.
Mohsin Issa, Asda’s co-owner, said: “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.”
Asda’s loyalty app, Asda Rewards, has grown to participation in 52% of transactions in just two year. The grocer will continue to push for increased use of Asda Rewards, which currently has over six million regular users (three million weekly). Asda has also launched Rewards ‘clubs’, such as the Baby & Toddler club.
Michael Gleeson, chief financial officer at Asda, added: “We continue to make progress by investing in bringing our quality and value offering to more customers across the UK, with Asda’s food price inflation trending lower than the market.
“We have made great progress over the last few years in transforming Asda into a diversified retail group, much of which is almost complete. However, we also know that there are some areas where we can and need to improve. We have today set out clear and decisive action to deliver a more consistent customer experience – to match the uncompromising value we offer. We remain confident in the underlying strength of the Asda business as we execute our long-term growth strategy.”
Asda was recently profiled in the RetailX UK Top500 report, as the supermarket was ranked a Leading retailer in this tenth edition of the report.
The profile looks at how Asda uses its website to highlight value and convenience, emphasising low prices while also flagging up a variety of flexible fulfilment options. Download the full report to read it.
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