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Asda sales leapfrog Sainsbury’s

Non-food sales spur Wal-Mart owned chain into second place July 31 2003 Asda has moved into the second spot in the UK supermarket league table after… View Article

GENERAL MERCHANDISE NEWS

Asda sales leapfrog Sainsbury’s

Non-food sales spur Wal-Mart owned chain into second place
July 31 2003
Asda has moved into the second spot in the UK supermarket league table after a key industry measure showed its sales have overtaken those of rival Sainsbury’s.

The latest figures from research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres, based on till roll receipts, show that in the four weeks to July 20 Asda grew its market share from 16.1 per cent to 17 per cent, while Sainsbury’s saw its share fall to 16.2 per cent from 17.1 per cent.
Although the change in the rankings has been on the cards for a while, it comes at a bad time for Sainsbury’s, as the company faces criticism from the City over the progress of the recovery programme implemented by chief executive Sir Peter Davis.
Last week, Sir Peter acknowledged that he was disappointed that the initiatives implemented, including investment in new store systems, had not yet translated into increased sales. The company expects to start seeing sales growth as a result of its investment in the year ahead.
Sainsbury’s also plans to expand its range of non-food products in order to compete with the growing percentage of Asda and Tesco’s growth achieved through areas such as clothing and home electricals.
Asda’s growth in particular has been in part due to the success of the George clothing range, which will be trialed in two standalone stores this autumn.
Asda operates 260 UK stores compared to around 500 for Sainsbury’s, with Asda stores generally much larger. About 20 per cent of Asda’s sales are non-food, compared with less than 10 per cent for Sainsbury’s. On food sales alone. Sainsburys has about 15.5 per cent of the market compared to 13 per cent for Asda.
A Sainsbury’s statement said: “Asda’s position has been driven by its non-food offer as these figures are based on total sales, not just food.” It added: “Since Asda was acquired by Wal-Mart it has been a dominant force in shaping the market for non-food products sold at supermarkets. Sainsbury’s is launching a new non-food offer from this autumn.”
While the move into second place is a PR boost for Asda, it still has a long way to go to claim the real prize of first place from Tesco, When Wal-Mart acquired Asda in 1999, the US giant said it did not enter a territory to be anything other than market leader.
An Asda spokeswoman said: “We’re obviously pleased that this month’s TNS figures show we’ve just nipped ahead of Sainsbury’s for the first time.
“But while we’re pleased that more and more customers seem to like our prices and service, overtaking Sainsbury’s has never been our goal – we’ll only continue to grow and be successful if we keep focusing on the individual needs of our customers, store-by-store.”
Tesco market share is more than 27 per cent, while takeover target Safeway, in fourth place, saw its share fall from 9.9 per cent to 9.2 per cent. Fifth placed Morrisons grew its share from 5.7 per cent to 6 per cent.

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