Asda suffers fifth consecutive market share drop

For the 12 weeks ending May 16, the research shows the total grocery market has remained subdued, with Asda faring worst with total market share down from 16.9% to 16.8%.

Comparatively, Tesco is holding its market share at 30.6%. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons both increased their market share in May and recorded growth ahead of the market, at 4.4% and 6% respectively.

Edward Garner, communications director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “As Andy Clarke takes the helm, there has been much speculation about what the new chief executive will do to turn around Asda’s fortunes. We expect him to focus on restoring the clarity of Every Day Low Prices as well as reviewing the implementation of range rationalisation. Asda has already named these areas as a key priority going forward as shown by the launch of the Asda Price Guarantee and it will be interesting to see the results of the new strategy in the coming months.”  

Kantar said Asda’s focus on value may be working against it, with figures showing consumers are continuing to shop at the premium end of the market. Tesco’s Finest range continues to perform well, while Waitrose has maintained high growth at 12.5%. The Co-op has delivered the fastest growth this month at 16.5% as Somerfield disappears from the high street.

However, value is still key. Iceland lifted its share by 0.2% and recorded its strongest growth for a year. Fortunes are mixed among the hard discounters, with Lidl and Netto still struggling to keep pace with the market. However Aldi has boosted its market share to 3.1%.

Grocery price inflation has remained low and the figure is the same as the last period at 1.4%.