Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Asda and Schuh

Asda wins paid search advertising battle

Asda has been unveiled as the leader of the UK online grocery battle for paid search advertising during the eight months from January to August 2016, based on the click-through rates released by Kantar Media company AdGooroo, The Drum reported.

Based on the UK’s Google desktop advertising activity on 83 branded and unbranded grocery-related keywords report, the supermarket performed better than its rival brands, generating 5.8 million clicks – 2.5 million clicks ahead of its closest competitor, Waitrose.

Sainsbury’s was behind in sixth position with 230,000 clicks.

Asda was also found to have bought up the most competitive keywords (20), followed by Tesco (17), Sainsbury’s (12) and Waitrose (11).

Schuh unveils strong profits growth

Schuh has reported a strong growth in profit as it pulled back its staff bonus scheme, BBC News reported.

The footwear retailer had paid £25m to its 4,200 staff last year, as a staff reward scheme from the Tennessee-based company Genesco, which acquired Schuh five years ago.

During the Schuh acquisition, the staff pay-out was more than £37m. However, the most recent accounts show pre-tax profits up 28% to £15m.

David Gillan-Reid, the new finance director, said: "The year started well. However, a mild winter throughout combined with a slower Black Friday, led up to a challenging Christmas trading period. That meant we found ourselves in a much tougher position in the final quarter."