After a rollercoaster year, it seems quite a while since Asda was flying.
But it’s not so very long at all. Just a year ago the supermarket’s cost-conscious message was still playing well with crunched shoppers. Then a dismal Christmas stripped its momentum and the Leeds outfit has been losing market share ever since.
Today there was better news, with like-for-like sales up 1.3% in the third quarter. That growth isn’t stellar compared to some rivals further upmarket, and includes the impact of food inflation.
But the figures are against strong comparatives and, Asda will hope, represent something of a corner turned. Now comes the really important part.
Last year, Asda tried to have its (Christmas) cake and eat it. The supermarket insisted it was business as normal as the snow came down – then blamed the inclement weather and its patchy footprint for a disappointing performance. The explanation was not wholly convincing.
In fact the supermarket went too cheap, forgetting that when times are tough people try to spend away the misery on premium pudding. Chief exec Andy Clarke admitted ahead of September’s own-label relaunch that Asda had underachieved on quality. Much time and money has been invested in putting that right.
The chain is not alone in revamping own-label. And consumer perceptions inevitably lag product development by a distance. But this time, like Scrooge, you would imagine the lessons have been learned.
A better Christmas would draw a line under Asda’s turbulent 12 months.
More slices of Daily Bread
No comments yet