Asda attracts 400,000 new shoppers

Supermarket Asda has returned to sales growth for the first time this year, posting its strongest quarterly performance since Q1 2021 as its focus on value attracted 400,000 new shoppers from other supermarkets.

The supermarket reported that there has been a 4.7 per cent increase in like-for-like sales when compared to the same period last year, while total revenues excluding fuel were £5.2 billion.

The value for money offered by Asda’s Just Essentials range has been a key driver in attracting new shoppers to Asda, stated the supermarket. Around 70 per cent spend on the range is from new customers and more than 400k shoppers switched to Asda during the quarter from more expensive supermarkets.

Asda also continued its ‘Dropped & Locked’ pricing initiative, where 250 family favourite products are locked in price for the rest of the year to give customers more certainty over their shopping bills.

During the quarter, Asda also refreshed its bakery, meat, fish and poultry categories, adding over 100 new lines at different price points to suit all customer budgets. This has resulted in a 15.5 per cent uplift in bakery sales year-on-year and 6.4 per cent increase in meat, fish and poultry sales, the supermarket said, adding that it has rolled out its new Asda Rewards loyalty programme to all stores and online during the quarter following a series of successful regional trials.

The app, which rewards customers with pounds off at the checkout rather than points, has 2.7m active users.

Mohsin Issa, Asda’s co-owner, said: “The financial pressures on families across the UK is worsening and they are looking to us for help. Asda has a long-standing reputation for providing customers with outstanding value and it’s more important than ever that we deliver on this for them. We’re absolutely committed to ensuring that Asda remains the best value traditional supermarket – while introducing new value initiatives such as Asda Rewards that can make an immediate difference to customer budgets.”