Asda credits investment in value for jump in revenues

For the second quarter, ending June 30, 2023, Asda reported revenues excluding fuel of £5.4bn. The retailer said its investment in price had led to a 14.7% increase in own-brand sales compared with the same period the previous year.

Asda said that Just Essentials, the value range it launched last year, “is now firmly established as the number one value range in the market”, citing a 20.2% market share based on the most recent Kantar figures.

Sales of the value range were up 87%, with more than 22 million customers purchasing from the range since its launch.

General merchandise and clothing saw like-for-like sales growth of 2.8% and 6.3% respectively, outperforming the wider market during the second quarter.

In terms of online grocery, Asda said it continued to have 800,000 orders per week across the quarter.

The grocer said 40% of UK households had “negative disposable income” across the quarter, based on data from its Asda Income Tracker.

Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “We know that thousands of families continue to struggle with the cost of living and we’re committed to doing all we can to support them.

“This quarter, we have locked the price of over 500 everyday items to help families keep a handle on their budgets, as well as reducing the price of over 200 own-label items by an average of 9%, including fresh fruit, vegetables, cupboard staples and ready meals.

“It’s this constant focus on keeping our prices low that has seen us win the Grocer 33 pricing award for the 26th consecutive year.

“In addition to investing in value on the shelf, we’re also the only major retailer to give money back to customers every time they shop through our Asda Rewards loyalty app. More than 5 million customers regularly use the app and have earned over £200m since launch to spend in store or online.

“We have also extended our hugely popular kids-eat-for-£1 cafes offer until the end of the year. I am incredibly proud that we have been able to serve over 2 million meals to kids since we launched the initiative last June, investing £1.3m to date to keep the prices pegged at £1.”