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Strong first quarter for Asda
Archived article dated Friday May 15th 2009
Asda has out-performed the market by achieving unadjusted like-for-like sales growth of 6.4 per cent in its first quarter.
Underlying like-for-like growth reached 8.4 per cent, excluding petrol sales, the timing of Easter and the extra leap day in 2008. The retailer beat its sales and profits targets for the quarter and claims to be winning customers from all its competitors.
ASDA has attributed its success to three elements: offering value, improving quality and using customer insight to drive product innovation and offers. The company has invested more than £60m over the last year to significantly improve the quality of its food and clothing. It has also developed a range of tools to ensure it carries on meeting the needs of its customers. These include Pulse of the Nation - a panel of 16,000 shoppers; 'Tell ASDA' - an online survey where customers give feedback on their local store; and Saving You Money TV - an interactive YouTube channel that allows customers to submit their own money saving tips and ideas.
Grocery sales through the Asda Home Shopping site have increased by almost 50% compared to the same quarter last year. Service coverage has been extended, with 94% of UK households now able to access it.
“ASDA had a standout quarter, leading on price and gaining market share,” says Wal-Mart president and chief executive Mike Duke.
“These are difficult times for many of our customers, so delivering great value has never been more important. That's why we are really proud of our performance this year,” says Asda chief financial officer Judith McKenna. “Customers continue to tell us what's important to them, and we have hit the sweet spot by finding the right balance between lowering prices, improving quality and reducing our costs. As a result we are winning even more customers and we're gaining them from all of our competitors.
Tagged as: Asda | Wal-Mart | Mike Duke | Judith McKenna
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