Daily Mirror’s Post

📉 Hannah Boland reports: Asda has been hit by a fresh slump in sales just days after its chairman admitted he was “embarrassed” by the supermarket’s recent performance. Sales tumbled 6pc in the 12 weeks to August 4, according to new year-on-year figures from Kantar, making it the only major supermarket where trading is in decline. The latest drop in sales led to its market share sliding to 12.6pc, down from 14.8pc when the #business was bought by the Issa brothers in February 2021. By contrast, in the latest 12-week period rival Sainsbury's’s recorded its largest year-on-year market share increase since July 1997. Continue reading the full story below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ezHAFj6M

Asda's fuel has become the priciest among supermarket groups - after years of being among the cheapest - despite its pledge to offer the best value, research suggests. According to the RAC, average petrol and diesel prices were higher at Asda at the end of May than at Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. Asda disputed the findings, saying they covered its whole estate, including convenience shops, and that it still had the best prices at supermarket forecourts. Global fuel prices are falling, but the RAC said supermarket chains were not passing the savings on to customers. The RAC analyed data submitted by the biggest supermarkets to the Competition and Markets Authority and found that Asda was selling petrol at 146.34p per litre and diesel at 151.71p. By contrast Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsburys were charging 144.45p and 149.61p per litre - some 1.9p and 2.1p less. RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said it was the first time since the motoring group began tracking supermarket fuel prices that Asda had come out as priciest. He added that the chain had for years been the market leader on fuel prices, encouraging its rivals to drop their prices after it did, but that it had now lost its “crown”. Read more ➡️ https://buff.ly/3Vv0EIQ The Scottish Chambers of Commerce Network is here to support your business - reach out to share your views, concerns and opportunities. #SCCnews #businesssupport #businessnetwork #businessvoice #businessleader Sign up for the Scottish Chambers of Commerce enewsletter at https://buff.ly/3CpsQnu

So easy to fix and painful to watch from the sidelines.

How are Aldi cheaper than Woolworths Supermarkets & Coles Group? The answer is pretty simple: 1. Fewer staff. 2. Less products (1,800 items as opposed to Coles and WW estimated 20,000 to 25,000) 3. Smaller stores (so lower rent) So for all those asking for cheaper pricing from Coles & WW, will you sacrifice range and customer service for price? https://lnkd.in/gHXY8AnB

Mr Allen Leighton seems to be already having an impact in #Asda. This week saw them publish online their standard whole #fresh #Turkey price at £3.00/kg, some 40% below last year’s price and only 1p /kg where #Aldi and #Lidl ended last year. Last year Asda were not in the game on price for standard tier whole fresh Turkey, at £5.00/kg they were over 40% more expensive than Aldi or Lidl and 25% more expensive than #Sainsbury. Over the last few years some retailers have kept the price of standard tier fresh Turkeys and Crowns secret until the last few days before the #Christmas trading period. This year even Tesco and Sainsbury have been quite late in publishing their prices. Lidl in store today has a leaflet announcing their fresh range but with no prices. Only a bold roundel stating "we won’t n be beaten on price". No prices yet on the Aldi web site. Last year Aldi launched at £3.99/k and Lidl £3.75 but both ended up at £2.99/kg, £1.00/ kg below 2022. Prices for #Premium ranges have been out for some time with all retailers trying to create points of difference and justify the higher prices. Asda for example have a Exceptional Free Range & Corn Fed Norfolk Bronze Turkey at £9.00/kg , 3 times the price per KG. Allen Leighton knows the only way to turn around Asda’s position is to grow #sales and #volume. Volume is key to getting support from the #brands and helping #Privatelabel #suppliers drive efficiency in production. If you read the recent financial updates to investors from Tesco, Sainsbury and Marks & Spence they all talk about volume growth. However, today’s environment is vastly different from the first time around for him. Then we did not have the two discounters holding a 18% market share between them and probably mid 20% in volume terms. The Asda pocket tap this time might need to be a bit more nuanced But cutting fresh Turkey prices by 40% is not a bad start. What are your thoughts on the price position on Turkeys?. What response do you expect from competitors? How low can prices go?   If you like this post please share and also watch out for summary of all prices on Turkeys as we head into the final few days of trading

**Co-op hails “robust” sales as it targets future growth** Co-op’s food retail business has seen its underlying operating profit increase by 11% to £154 million in the year to March 2023 as it looks forward to future growth. This was attributed mainly to cost efficiencies, including improvements in availability, waste reduction, optimised stock-holding, and an overall reduction in the retailer’s cost-to-serve. At £7.3 billion, its revenue was slightly down on the previous year’s £7.8 billion due to the sale of the group’s petrol forecourt business to Asda. However, revenue was up 4.3% when the impact of the sale was excluded. During the period, the food business grew its online sales to £311 million from a previous £222 million and expanded its partnership with Just Eat to over 1,000 stores. Across the wider Co-op group which includes B2B, life services, legal and insurance arms, revenue dropped to £11.3 billion from a previous £11.5 billion. Meanwhile, pre-tax profit came in at £28 million compared to the prior year’s £268 million which Co-op attributed to the petrol forecourt sale. The group made an operating profit of £66 million compared to the previous year’s loss of £12 million. Link to full article in comments. #coop #retail #valuethroughinsight

Asda's market share during the 12 weeks to 4th August fell to 12.6%, down from 13.7% a year ago, which is, according to Sky News " an astonishing fall from grace" It does not seem that long ago that Asda first overtook Sainsbury's to become the market's second-biggest player - an event celebrated by Tony DeNunzio, Asda's then chief executive, by giving all 125,000 UK employees an extra day off. #retail #supermarkets #stocksandshares https://lnkd.in/eGT6huYg

Sainsbury's boosted by strong food sales Sainsbury's has reported strong food sales after spending heavily on keeping prices low to attract customers. The supermarket chain reported a better-than-expected 1.6 per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profits to £701million for the year to 2 March. Growth was driven by grocery sales, which increased by 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter and 9.4 per cent over the year, as volumes picked up amid easing inflation. The figures come less than two months after Sainsbury’s said it would axe around 1,500 jobs under plans to cut costs by about £1billion a year.