Asda has laid out ambitious plans to open 300 of its new Express convenience stores by 2026. We visited the second store, which opened this week in Tottenham Hale, north London, to cast an eye over its latest thinking for the smaller store format.
The 3,000-strong range covers fresh, chilled, ambient and food to go, as well as vaping, BWS, and general merchandise such as food storers and candles.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all model approach, however. The formula for its Express rollout is to tailor each store’s proposition to the local community and demographic, while targeting areas lacking an Asda presence.
Its first Asda Express store, for example, which opened on a housing estate in Sutton Coldfield in October, was designed to cater for more top-up shops, offering a greater range of toiletries and food cupboard SKUs.
Tottenham Hale, on the other hand, leans more towards food to go and food for later, given its position near student accommodation and the tube station. It features a wider range of sandwiches, a Tango Ice Blast machine, a world foods bay filled with niche brands due to the “highly diverse area” in which it is located, and a broader range of beers, wines and sprits.
Both stores boast a Leon self-service coffee kiosk, following a major expansion programme with Asda.
“We’re championing Asda’s own label and our premium Extra Special range, while working with key brands,” says Asda chief transformation officer Mark Simpson. “We’ll test and learn, and if we don’t have enough of one element, then we will adapt accordingly. It’s a real opportunity for people to experience a new Asda that they’ve not been to before.”
An array of services were available too. The store boasted eight self-checkouts, a free withdrawal cash machine, and Asda’s ‘to you’ parcel collection and return service. The supermarket giant anticipates the ‘to you’ service to be used by 100 customers a day at the Tottenham Hale store.
The business says all future Express stores will feature self-service checkouts, and plans to install cash machines in stores where there is not an alternative ATM nearby. It will also put ‘to you’ in most stores “where there is space to do so”.
Its general merchandise features a swathe of homeware and non-food lines, ranging from wine glasses and playing cards to lightbulbs and notepads.
Simpson explains it will also be leveraging its Asda Rewards scheme, which it began rolling out to supermarkets in July, across the Express format, offering additional help to shoppers while they navigate the cost of living crisis.
“It’s massively outperformed our expectations,” he says.
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