Asda 10 Week Comparable Sales +0.5%; Online Boosted by Click and Collect

By Ian Walker

LONDON--Asda, the U.K.'s second largest supermarket retailer by market share, Thursday reported a 0.5% rise in like-for-like sales for the 10 weeks to June 30 and said its online market share has increased to 18.4%, driven by the expansion of 'Click and Collect' which now accounts for 10% of all online orders.

The company said it expects 'Click and Collect', whereby shoppers buy their items online and pick them up themselves, to treble over the next five years with 30% of all orders expected to be collected in Asda stores.

With this in mind, the retailer said it is continuing to innovate and develop its offer, and in the last three months has extended the hours customers are able to collect their shopping on a Sunday by four hours, driving a 20% increase on the day's orders.

Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said it opened three new superstores and two supermarkets during the second quarter and plans three more in the third quarter. It currently has more than 500 stores throughout the U.K.

Speaking at a briefing in London, Andy Clarke, president and chief executive officer, said: "I am pleased with our performance in the quarter and our business has shown that it is well positioned to meet the demands of a challenging market."

"Innovation, low prices and customer service remain at the heart of our business and over the coming months and years we will continue to implement and build on this successful strategy as we constantly look at new and improved ways to run our business," Mr. Clarke said.

Asda has a 17% share of the U.K. grocery market, according to the latest data from Kantar which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K. Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) is the leader with 28.9%, while J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) ranks third with 16.6%.

Write to Ian Walker at [e-mail]

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