Asda is continuing to push ahead with the second year of its turnaround, as it seeks to win back market share from rival supermarkets. 

The retailer has been losing ground to competitors in recent years, with discounter Aldi particularly hot on its heels to overtake it as the UK’s third biggest supermarket.

Despite reporting an EBITDA and sales drop in its latest trading update, executive chairman Allan Leighton went on to claim that Asda’s “progress in key areas like price, availability, and customer satisfaction” was “edging forward”.

He also insisted that it had “an improved customer offer, stable core systems, a strengthened balance sheet and a strong leadership team” to deliver its Formula for Growth strategy.

In its latest efforts to revitalise the business, Asda has unveiled a series of major changes across its product, price and in-store experience.

“Getting back to what Asda has always stood for”

Under one of its biggest product refreshes in recent years, Asda rolled out more than 400 new food and drink lines earlier this month.

This covered a host of categories such as frozen, bakery, produce, fresh meat and food to go.

Additionally, it upgraded two of its most-shopped categories – fresh produce and frozen.

Explaining why it made these changes, Asda chief customer officer Rachel Eyre says: “We know that families are making careful choices about how they spend, so our job is to make sure Asda is the easiest place to get great quality, real choice and outstanding value.

“These changes are about focusing on the areas that matter most to customers – the products they buy every week, the value they demand, and the experience they have in-store.” 

She adds: “It’s about getting back to what Asda has always stood for as a consumer champion, while making sure customers can see and feel those improvements every time they shop with us.”

Bringing a human touch to stores

The changes also involve the re-introduction of greengrocers to the supermarket’s aisles, to help ensure availability and quality in-store.

The grocer initially revealed plans to roll out greengrocers to 150 of its stores across the nation in 2021.

It went on to extend the offering to 250 shops in 2022, before phasing out the greengrocer position across its shops.

Upon their return, Eyre says that the greengrocers will “play an important role” in “bringing expertise back into the fruit and veg aisle”.

“They’re there to make sure products are well presented, availability is strong, and that customers can easily find the best of what’s in season,” she explains.

“Just as importantly, they provide a more helpful, human touch in-store, supporting customers with choice and giving them confidence in the quality of what they’re buying. 

Alongside its new greengrocers, Asda’s fruit and veg section has been fitted with “clearer information on quality and provenance” to highlight the retailer’s fresh promise – “100% satisfaction or your money back”.

Are the changes enough to revive Asda? 

Asda’s changes don’t stop there. The supermarket’s frozen category has also been revamped to make shopping “quicker and easier”.

This consists of a clearer layout and signage as well as more prominence given to the retailer’s best-selling lines on the shelf.

To top it off, over 230 new frozen products have been added to the category. 

In terms of pricing, hundreds of items that shoppers purchase the most have been reduced to a new lower Asda Price, with more reductions to follow in the coming weeks.

New £1 and £2 roundels have also been added to stores, while an enhanced rewards programme has introduced new missions and offers across different categories such as fresh, frozen and general merchandise.

Asda seems to have pulled out all the stops with its refresh. But is it enough to revive the struggling supermarket’s fortunes? 

The retailer still has a mountain to climb in terms of its turnaround. Its market share stands at 11.6 per cent as of April, a far cry from the 17.3 per cent share it held back in 2014.

However, Eyre notes that the customer reaction to its changes so far have been “really encouraging”.

“They’re noticing the improvements in ranges across areas such as frozen and they’re responding positively to the revamped rewards offering,” she says. 

“That being said, this isn’t a short-term stunt, we know that earning customers trust is a long-term mission that doesn’t just stop when they come into one of our stores.

“We’ve made these changes so that customers can feel confident that they’ll have a positive experience every time they shop with us.”

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