Asda loses market share as consumers opt to shop elsewhere…Londis strawberries…..

The last three months haven’t been great for Asda, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, Asda’s market share fell from 17.3pc over the three months to mid-June last year to 16.9pc this year.

As a result of poor performances, Simon King, the number two at the chain and the man in charge of running Asda’s shops, left the company earlier this week with immediate effect after just six months in the role.

Kantar also reported Tesco’s shares have edged up over the period while J Sainsbury’s share was static for the period.

Whilst Asda underperformed and the other two big chains had average performances, the so-called “bargain” supermarkets excelled.

Aldi and Lidl, the discount retailers – saw their shares increase from 3.1pc to 3.4pc and 2.3pc to 2.6pc respectively as customers look for a cheap deal.

At the other end of the spectrum, upmarket retailer Waitrose, owned by John Lewis Partnership, also saw its share rise from 4.2pc to 4.3pc.

Evident that customers prefer to shop elsewhere, an Asda spokesman said:

“As we’ve said consistently, once you take out new space from the Kantar numbers, you get a slightly different picture. The fact remains we continue to do all the right things right now…

“We’re keeping a lid on inflation and revamping our food ranges and only last week were named Britain’s favourite place to shop by customers. That’s why we’re confident we’re making good progress.”

The Kantar figures showed that overall sales growth at UK supermarkets has slowed dramatically over the last month, as shoppers cull their spending following the Royal Wedding and Easter period that saw consumers spending more than usual.

Inflation is to blame, I reported last week on inflation taking an overnight rise and Asda is no different; spending on groceries grew by 7.8pc over the four weeks to May 15 but dropped significantly to 2.5pc over the latest four weeks as Britons tightened purse-strings. High food price inflation of 4.6pc was also blamed.

 

In other news…

For the freshest Strawberries, get down to Londis!

It’s that time of the year again, summertime – Wimbedon’s started so strawberries & cream are on the agenda.

And Londis, the chain of local stores promise “fresher than ever” strawberries as they announce that the fruit will be on the shelves within 36 hours of being picked.

Delivered from the fruit fields in Hampshire to stores all across Great Britain within 36 hours demonstrates Londis commitment to providing the freshest produce to market, whilst offering it at “credit-crunching prices through great relationships with local growers.”