Asda’s sales slump has deepened as the supermarket continues to lose ground to discount rivals despite efforts to overhaul stores and cut prices.
Industry tracker Worldpanel reported that Asda’s sales fell 2.6% in the 12 weeks to 10 August, marking its fifth consecutive monthly decline. Market share slipped to 11.8%, down from 12.7% a year earlier and well below the 15% recorded in 2021, when the chain was acquired in a debt-fuelled takeover by TDR Capital and the Issa brothers.
The latest decline leaves Asda the only major UK supermarket to register falling sales in the period. Management has been seeking to reverse the trend through price cuts, store refurbishments and supplier negotiations, but chairman Allan Leighton has cautioned against pursuing “quick fixes,” even as profits are expected to fall materially this year.
Meanwhile, Morrisons also showed signs of strain, with sales rising just 0.9%, slowing slightly from the previous month. Rival discounter Lidl is closing in fast, with an 8.3% market share compared to Morrisons’s 8.4%, fuelling expectations it could move ahead before the end of 2025.
Marks & Spencer recorded a 6.1% rise in spending in the four weeks to 10 August, according to unpublished Worldpanel figures, outpacing the wider grocery market and signalling a rebound after months of disruption from a major cyberattack.
The April hack, which severely disrupted deliveries into M&S food stores, had temporarily stalled the company’s strong growth trajectory. Data from NIQ showed spending in M&S food halls increased just 0.8% in the four weeks to 17 May, a sharp slowdown from the 11% growth seen over the prior 12 months.
The latest figures suggest momentum is returning, providing a boost for M&S executives as they continue to navigate the fallout from the attack.
By contrast, Asda defended its performance amid falling sales, highlighting that its rate of grocery inflation remains below the market. A spokesman said the supermarket continues to invest in price cuts through its Rollback and Asda Price initiatives, citing the Grocer 33 survey, which showed Asda offered the cheapest basket in six of the past seven weeks, and the Which? Big Shop Price Index for July.
