Asda
Encyclopedia
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, (via the Vodafone Network), Asda Mobile
. Its head office is at Asda House in Leeds
, West Yorkshire
.
Asda became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, in 1999, and is the UK's second largest chain by market share after Tesco
. In December 2010, Asda's share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%.
Asda's marketing promotions have usually been based solely on price, with Asda promoting itself under the slogan Britain's Lowest Priced Supermarket, 14 Years Running.
As a wholly owned division of Wal-Mart, Asda is not required to declare quarterly or half-yearly earnings. It submits full accounts to Companies House
each October.
Asda Stores Limited was founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Limited in 1949 in Leeds
. The adoption of the Asda name occurred in 1965 with the merger of the Asquith chain of three supermarkets and Associated Dairies; Asda is an abbreviation of Asquith and Dairies, often capitalised.
For a short time in the 1980s Asda Stores Ltd was a subsidiary of Asda-MFI plc following a merger between the two companies. Other companies in the group were Associated Dairies Limited, the furniture retailer MFI and Allied Carpets
. After the sale of MFI and Allied Carpets the company name changed to Asda Group plc. The dairy division was sold in a management buyout and renamed Associated Fresh Foods, meaning that Asda has since had no connection with one of the firms its name was derived from.
With stores mainly based in the North of England, the newly focused food retail group expanded further south in 1989 by buying the large format stores of rival Gateway Superstores for £705 million. This move overstretched the company and it found itself in trouble trying to sell too many different products. As a result it was forced to raise money from shareholders in both 1991 and 1993. It revived under the leadership of Archie Norman
, who later became a front bench Conservative
MP
. CEO from 1991, Norman was chairman of the company during the period 1996–99, and replicated the store on the basis of United States retail giant Wal-Mart
, even sending protégé Allan Leighton
to Bentonville, Arkansas
to assess and photograph the systems and marketing which Wal-Mart had deployed.
In 1997, the Spice Girls
licensed their name and image to Asda in which they created over 40 different Spice Items for Christmas 1997 developing goods such as party supplies, official merchandise, and even Spice Girl branded kids meals in the stores' restaurants. The Spice Girls earned £1 million for this sponsorship deal.
When Norman left the company to pursue his political career, he was replaced by Leighton. Wal-Mart wanted to enter the UK market so CEO Bob Martin lobbied British Prime Minister Tony Blair
on planning issues. Asda, which at the time owned 230 stores and had planned to merge with Kingfisher plc
, was purchased by Wal-Mart on 26 July 1999 for £6.7 billion.
After the takeover Asda continued to maintain its headquarters at the then newly opened "Asda House". This building was one of the first of the new large office blocks to open as part of the redevelopment of the huge area south of the River Aire
in Leeds city centre
, in the Holbeck
district, West Yorkshire
.
In 2005, amid reported concerns within Wal-Mart about a slippage in market share, partially due to a resurgent Sainsbury's, Asda's chief executive, Tony de Nunzio left, and was replaced by Andy Bond. In 2005, Asda expanded into Northern Ireland
by purchasing 12 Safeway stores from Morrisons
.
In November 2008 there were reports that Asda was to buy Irish retailer Dunnes
.
In 2009 Wal-Mart 'sold' Asda for £6.9 billion to their Leeds-based investment subsidiary Corinth Services Limited. The deal, which took place in August, was described as part of a “group restructuring” and means Asda remains under the control of the Wal-Mart, since Corinth are themselves a subsidiary of Wal-Mart.
On 11 May 2010 Andy Clarke, a former manager of an Asda store, who was also the Chief Operating Officer, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer.
In May 2010, it was announced that Asda would buy all of Netto
's UK Operations in a £778 million deal. The deal will see Asda move into the smaller, more localised store market with most Netto stores being only one fifth the size of the average Asda supermarket. In September 2010 it was announced that Asda will be forced to sell 47 of the existing 194 Netto stores due to a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading
. The rebranding of Netto stores to Asda began in early 2011.
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which will be converted into supermarkets subject to approvals and local planning consents.
Asda is known for memorable famous marketing campaigns. In the "Asda price" campaign, customers tap their trouser pocket twice, producing a 'chinking' sound as the coins that Asda's low prices have supposedly left in their pockets knock together. The pocket tap ads were launched in 1977 and over the next 30 years a range of celebrities have been "tappers", including Julie Walters
, Michael Owen
, sitcom actor Leonard Rossiter
and Carry On actress Hattie Jacques
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, prior to the reintroduction of the tap pocket campaign, advertising for Asda had featured the Fairground Attraction
song Perfect
. In 2004, Sharon Osbourne
was selected to be part of a new marketing campaign by Asda; her last advert was aired in August 2005.
From 1990 to 1992, they were the sponsors of Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
during arguably their two most successful seasons in modern times – when they won promotion from the Football League Second Division
as Football League Cup
winners and finished third in the Football League First Division
(last season
before the creation of the FA Premier League
).
In the smiley face "rollback" campaign, also used in Wal-Mart advertisements, a CGI
smiley face bounced from price tag to price tag, knocking them down as customers watch. The focus of these campaigns is to portray Asda as the most affordable supermarket in the country, a claim that was challenged by competitors, especially Aldi
. In 2006, Asda advertising was themed around singing children and the slogan "More for you for less", and the previous tap of the trouser pocket advertising was reduced to a double-tap on a stylised 'A', still producing the 'chinking' sound. This included an advert during the 2006 FIFA World Cup
featuring the England
football player Michael Owen
in an advert with the children singing Vindaloo
. In 2007, the advertising campaign abandoned the rollback hook in favour of featuring celebrities including Victoria Wood
and Paul Whitehouse
working as Asda employees.
For Christmas 2007, Asda reintroduced the "That's Asda price" slogan as well as the famous 'jingle
' to some of its adverts, this can also be heard on its in-store radio station 'Asda FM
'.
Starting in 2008, Asda has been returning to its roots and is now re-focusing on price with its new "Why Pay More?" campaign both on TV and in stores. Current Asda TV commercials in April 2009 focus on price comparisons between Asda and its rivals, using information from "MySupermarket" to suggest that Asda is Britain's most affordable supermarket. The music being used in these adverts is the Billy Childish
version of the classic Dad's Army
theme tune. The old Asda jingle is not included in these, but appeared in a 2008 Christmas advert.
Asda returned to the traditional pocket tap adverts in March/April 2009, with the slogan "Saving You Money Every Day!"
Asda has been winner of The Grocer
magazine "Lowest Price Supermarket" Award for the past 12 years, and uses this to promote itself across the UK. In August 2005, rival supermarket chain Tesco
challenged Asda's ability to use the claim that it was the cheapest supermarket in the country, by complaining to the Advertising Standards Agency
. The A.S.A upheld the complaint and ordered Asda to stop using it, citing that The Grocer magazine survey was based on limited and unrepresentative evidence as it examined the price of just 33 products, and that the survey did not study low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi
, and that their price checker, My Supermarket, doesn't include Morrisons, which was mentioned a few times. As a result Asda no longer cites itself as "Officially Britain's lowest priced supermarket", instead using "Winner: Britain's lowest price supermarket award".
Through out the year, Asda has asked pricing strategics company Skuuudle to assist them in their campaign against rivals Argos for the Christmas season to produce price listings so shoppers can see transparent pricing on children's toys on the key Christmas lines, helping people save money though out the season.
Asda was the top performing supermarket in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Performance League Table, coming in at 37 and beating Morrisons
at 56, Tesco
at 93, and Sainsburys at 164.
Ethical trading
Asda has signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative
(ETI) which respects workers' rights for freedom of association and a living wage. Implementing this initiative is difficult, however, because the concept of a living wage varies between countries and the buying strategies of a major importer like Asda have an indirect impact on national minimum wages by obliging governments to set them low enough to stop businesses from going elsewhere. Industry pressure groups such as Labour Behind the Label
and War on Want
have argued that Asda and other budget retailers use unethical labour practices in the developing world to keep UK prices low. The National Farmers' Union, representing UK farmers and growers, has argued that Asda and other major supermarkets have made large profits and kept consumer prices low "by squeezing suppliers' margins to the point where many of them have gone out of business".
More recently, Asda's Valentine's Day
roses, sold at £2 for a dozen, were said to be ethically sourced by the supermarket. This claim went against research carried out by War on Want
.
Sponsorships
Call for Boycott
In October 2010, Chairman Andy Bond was a signatory to a controversial letter to The Daily Telegraph which claimed that "The private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities." This prompted calls for a boycott of Asda, as well as the companies represented by the other signatories to the letter on the grounds that "Companies that support the CSR are failed corporate citizens.".
Asda Smart Price is a no-frills private label trade name. The equivalents from the three other big supermarkets are Tesco
Value, Sainsbury's Basics and Morrisons
Bettabuy range,which has now changed to Morrisons Value range.
The Smart Price brand can trace its origins to Asda's Farm Stores brand launched in the mid 1990s, which consisted of products that were offered at a lower price than the equivalent famous name brand product and Asda's own brand equivalent. The Farm Stores brand originally consisted of a small number of food only products, largely frozen such as frozen chips and a small range of ready meals, this range later expanded to include fresh food.
Smart Price products are almost always the lowest price option (known as Our Lowest Price) in a product category in Asda stores. Occasionally this difference is only a few pence, however in others it is a marked difference. For example, a box of Smart Price Biological Washing Powder costs 50 pence while the equivalent Asda brand washing powder costs £1.50 and well known name brand alternatives cost from £2 upwards.
The Smart Price label was originally a food only brand, however over the years it has expanded to cover almost every product range in the store, including clothing and furnishings with the George Smart Price brand. Like early generic products in the US some Smart Price products lack what can be thought of as 'frills' in the modern brand name or supermarket own brand, for example the Smart Price toothpaste has an old fashioned screw cap rather than the now more common flip cap and the Smart Price range of crisps come in traditional clear plastic bags rather than the foil bags common to most name brand versions.
, the founder of Next, who was its original chief designer. He is no longer associated with the brand, although it has aimed to remain true to the high quality, low price business model that he established.
In 2005, Asda stated that the George range was a £1.75 billion business, including sales from Wal-Mart stores in the USA and Germany. Mintel
estimate that George is the fourth largest retailer of clothing in the United Kingdom, after Marks & Spencer
, the Arcadia Group
and Next.
Asda was the first supermarket to stock wedding dress
es. Part of the George line, they cost just £60 while adult bridesmaid dresses ranged between £30 and £35, at launch.
However, the preferred large-format stores have brought problems to Asda's growth beyond its spurts in both the 1990s and immediate post Wal-Mart era. With the UK's tight planning restrictions, the opportunity to increase retail space via new store builds has been limited. Rather than follow rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's into "local" format smaller-footprint stores, Asda has chosen to adapt its format to niche stores to retain longer term growth.
On 16 April 2010, Asda announced plans to open over 100 new non-food stores as part of an ambitious five-year plan.
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which will be converted into supermarkets subject to approvals and local planning consents.
Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres
Following the takeover by Wal-Mart, several "Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres" have been opened, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. The first Supercentre opened in Livingston, Scotland in June 2000. The Minworth
, Birmingham store is currently the largest Asda Supercentre with a nett sales floor of over 120,000sqft. The Milton Keynes
store is currently the second largest Asda Wal-Mart Supercentre and the third largest is located in Huyton
, Merseyside. There are currently 25 Supercentres in the UK.
Asda superstores
Asda superstores are large supermarkets with a non food offer slightly smaller than a Asda Supercentre. As of 2011 there are 231 superstores in the UK.
Asda Supermarket
The Supermarket division was formed in 2009. As of July 2010, there are 26 small format supermarkets some of which were acquired from the Co-operative. The first three acquisition stores opened mid 2009 in Wellington, Lancing and Pershore followed by Cumnock, Tweedmouth and Kingsheath in 2010.
In May 2010, Asda announced the purchase of the 193 UK stores of Danish discount retailer Netto
in a £778 million deal. The stores will continue to trade as Netto stores until early 2011, when Asda plans to integrate the stores into its supermarkets division, designated for shops smaller than 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²).
Asda Living
In October 2003 Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Living. This is the company's first "general merchandise" store, containing all its non-food ranges including clothing, home electronics, toys, homewares, health, and beauty products. With these stores they have linked up with Compass Group
who operate the coffee shop Caffe Ritazza
within some of the stores. The first store with this format opened in Walsall
, West Midlands, and at the time of writing has been followed by ten further stores.
In 2004, the George clothing brand was extended to a number of standalone George stores on the high street, with the first George standalone store to open was in Preston. In 2008, all George standalone stores were closed due to high rental costs resulting in low profitability, The Falkirk
and Crewe
branch were kept open as they are located next to the Asda store.
Asda Essentials
In April 2006, Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Essentials' in a former Co-op store in Northampton
, followed by another in Pontefract
a month later. This was modelled on the French Leaderprice chain, with a smaller floorplate than Asda's mainstream stores. Essentials focuses primarily on own-brand products, only stocking branded items that are perceived to be at the "core" of a family's weekly shop. This style of retailing is an attempt to address competition from discount supermarkets such as Aldi
, Lidl
and Netto
. On 6 December 2006 The Guardian
newspaper reported that further planned store openings were under review following poor sales in the existing outlets. It was also revealed that the range of branded products has been expanded. In early January 2007 it was announced that the initial trial Essentials store would close within a month after only 10 months of trading.
, a Dubai World company. Gazeley is involved in the development of distribution warehousing in the UK, mainland Europe and China and has extended its operations to India and Mexico. Its customers include many of the world's leading companies, third-party logistics providers, original equipment manufacturers, retailers and their suppliers. Gazeley is also a preferred developer of distribution space for Wal-Mart International, including Asda in the UK and Wal-Mart China.
Asda Financial Services
Asda has established a financial services
division, following in the footsteps of Tesco
, Sainsbury's and other retailers. Asda simply attaches its own brand to products provided by other companies. Services they offer include insurance (provided by Norwich Union
), credit cards (provided by Grupo Santander
) and loans (provided by the Funding Corporation). The Financial Services division of the organisation does not directly sell these services in store and instead uses the supplier of that product by telephone or online/postal application. Until June 2009 selected stores had Credit Card Representatives provided by GE Capital Bank
and then Grupo Santander
. Marketing and management of Financial Services is co-ordinated in house and many stores have a Financial Services Co-ordinator, responsible for promoting the products and ensuring legal compliance. The Financial Services division is also responsible for Gift Cards, Christmas Saver and Business Rewards.
) offers a points scheme, though these points can be earned on all spending.
Asda launched its online retailer service in 1998, but from the start had over-estimated demand. It began with a dedicated depot based in Croydon
, South London
, but this was closed with a number of redundancies shortly after as sales were lower than expected. It continued the online service, but emulated the Tesco store-based model instead.
Since the roll-out of the grocery delivery operation Asda has moved into non-food online retailing. Current categories include entertainment, contact lenses, furniture, travel, electricals, gifts, mobile phones and flowers, with more categories being launched each year.
In May 2004 it announced a major expansion of the service which would increase coverage from 30% of the UK population to 35%.The Grocer
magazine reported a turnaround in the fortunes of Asda's home shopping service under new head of Home Shopping, Richard Ramsden. More recently, Asda stepped up its commitment to home shopping, focusing on full UK coverage by the end of 2007. Andy Bond highlighted that Asda will be recruiting up to 1,800 new staff to bolster its operations and focus on competing with Tesco in the online arena.
In January 2007, Asda launched www.asda-electricals.co.uk to compete with Tesco's highly successful Tesco Direct. In October 2008, Asda launched direct.asda.com superseding its electricals website and also selling several additional product categories such as homeware, garden and toys.
This new venture is part of its online business Asda Direct, with more than 3,000 domestic and home electrical products. Asda's long term ambition to capture 5% of the £1.9 billion market by 2012. Recently, the company sold its Durabrand 1005 DVD player for only £9, the UK's lowest priced DVD player, which sold out in just two days from start of the promotion.
has a 30.4% share of the UK grocery market while Asda's share is 17.5%, followed by Sainsbury's at 16.1%, and Morrisons at 11.8%.
According to CACI
, as of 2006, Asda has market dominance in 14 postcode areas; DY (Dudley
), B
(Birmingham
), CH
(Chester
), L
(Liverpool
), WN
(Wigan
), BL
(Bolton
), BB
(Blackburn), LA
(Lancaster
), HU
(Kingston upon Hull
), SR
(Sunderland), DH (Durham
), NE
(Newcastle upon Tyne
), G
(Glasgow
) and AB
(Aberdeen
).
The company has featured prominently in lists of "Best companies to work for", appearing in second place in The Times
newspaper list for 2005. It offers staff a discount
of 10% on most items (exceptions include fuel, stamps, lottery, giftcards and tobacco related items).
dairy products between 2002 and 2003. Asda commented, "Everyone at Asda regrets what happened, particularly as we are passionate about lowering prices. Our intention was to provide more money for dairy farmers, who were under severe financial pressure at the time." So far in total these retailers have been fined £116 million. Tesco
, Morrisons
and dairy company Lactalis McLelland denied any involvement in price-fixing; however, the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) says it will carry on its investigation. It was announced that the alleged price-fixing cost consumers £260 million.
, which was launched in April 2007.
ASDA Mobile
Asda Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator in the UK, operated by Asda, using the Vodafone UK network. Asda Mobile was launched in April 2007. As of 21 August 2007, Asda mobile was available in 237 stores across the UK....
. Its head office is at Asda House in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
.
Asda became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, in 1999, and is the UK's second largest chain by market share after Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
. In December 2010, Asda's share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%.
Asda's marketing promotions have usually been based solely on price, with Asda promoting itself under the slogan Britain's Lowest Priced Supermarket, 14 Years Running.
As a wholly owned division of Wal-Mart, Asda is not required to declare quarterly or half-yearly earnings. It submits full accounts to Companies House
Companies House
Companies House is the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills . All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the...
each October.
History
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. The adoption of the Asda name occurred in 1965 with the merger of the Asquith chain of three supermarkets and Associated Dairies; Asda is an abbreviation of Asquith and Dairies, often capitalised.
For a short time in the 1980s Asda Stores Ltd was a subsidiary of Asda-MFI plc following a merger between the two companies. Other companies in the group were Associated Dairies Limited, the furniture retailer MFI and Allied Carpets
Allied Carpets
Allied Carpets is one of the largest retailers of floor coverings operating a chain of large out-of-town superstores around the UK. It also has some High Street stores. It is the second-largest retailer of carpets in the UK.-History:...
. After the sale of MFI and Allied Carpets the company name changed to Asda Group plc. The dairy division was sold in a management buyout and renamed Associated Fresh Foods, meaning that Asda has since had no connection with one of the firms its name was derived from.
With stores mainly based in the North of England, the newly focused food retail group expanded further south in 1989 by buying the large format stores of rival Gateway Superstores for £705 million. This move overstretched the company and it found itself in trouble trying to sell too many different products. As a result it was forced to raise money from shareholders in both 1991 and 1993. It revived under the leadership of Archie Norman
Archie Norman
Archibald John Norman is a British businessman and politician. He is at present the only FTSE 100 chairman to have sat in the House of Commons. On 18 November 2009, Norman was announced as the new chairman of ITV plc...
, who later became a front bench Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. CEO from 1991, Norman was chairman of the company during the period 1996–99, and replicated the store on the basis of United States retail giant Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, even sending protégé Allan Leighton
Allan Leighton
Allan Leighton is an English businessman, former CEO of Asda and former non-executive Chairman of the Royal Mail.-Biography:Born in Hereford, the son of a Co-op stores manager, he was raised in Oxford...
to Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas is a city in Northwest Bahamas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 35,301 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area...
to assess and photograph the systems and marketing which Wal-Mart had deployed.
In 1997, the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
licensed their name and image to Asda in which they created over 40 different Spice Items for Christmas 1997 developing goods such as party supplies, official merchandise, and even Spice Girl branded kids meals in the stores' restaurants. The Spice Girls earned £1 million for this sponsorship deal.
When Norman left the company to pursue his political career, he was replaced by Leighton. Wal-Mart wanted to enter the UK market so CEO Bob Martin lobbied British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
on planning issues. Asda, which at the time owned 230 stores and had planned to merge with Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc is a multinational retailing company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest home improvement retailer in Europe and the third-largest in the world...
, was purchased by Wal-Mart on 26 July 1999 for £6.7 billion.
After the takeover Asda continued to maintain its headquarters at the then newly opened "Asda House". This building was one of the first of the new large office blocks to open as part of the redevelopment of the huge area south of the River Aire
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....
in Leeds city centre
Leeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...
, in the Holbeck
Holbeck
Holbeck is a district in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.The district begins on the southern edge of the Leeds city centre and mainly lies in the LS11 Leeds postcode area. The M1 and M621 motorways used to end/begin in Holbeck. Now the M621 is the only motorway that passes through the area since...
district, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
.
In 2005, amid reported concerns within Wal-Mart about a slippage in market share, partially due to a resurgent Sainsbury's, Asda's chief executive, Tony de Nunzio left, and was replaced by Andy Bond. In 2005, Asda expanded into Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
by purchasing 12 Safeway stores from Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
.
In November 2008 there were reports that Asda was to buy Irish retailer Dunnes
Dunnes Stores
Dunnes Stores, also known as Dunnes, is a supermarket and clothing retail chain, that is based in Dublin, Ireland.The chain primarily sells food, clothes and household wares. In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain has operations in Great Britain and Spain...
.
In 2009 Wal-Mart 'sold' Asda for £6.9 billion to their Leeds-based investment subsidiary Corinth Services Limited. The deal, which took place in August, was described as part of a “group restructuring” and means Asda remains under the control of the Wal-Mart, since Corinth are themselves a subsidiary of Wal-Mart.
On 11 May 2010 Andy Clarke, a former manager of an Asda store, who was also the Chief Operating Officer, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer.
In May 2010, it was announced that Asda would buy all of Netto
Netto (store)
Netto is a Danish discount supermarket operating in several European countries. Netto is owned by Dansk Supermarked Group, which in turn is partly owned by A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group.Netto also operates an express version of the store, known as Døgn Netto...
's UK Operations in a £778 million deal. The deal will see Asda move into the smaller, more localised store market with most Netto stores being only one fifth the size of the average Asda supermarket. In September 2010 it was announced that Asda will be forced to sell 47 of the existing 194 Netto stores due to a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
. The rebranding of Netto stores to Asda began in early 2011.
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which will be converted into supermarkets subject to approvals and local planning consents.
Marketing
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
, Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
, sitcom actor Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
and Carry On actress Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, prior to the reintroduction of the tap pocket campaign, advertising for Asda had featured the Fairground Attraction
Fairground Attraction
Fairground Attraction were a British acoustic pop band. They are best known for their hit single "Perfect", and for helping to launch the career of lead vocalist Eddi Reader.-Career:...
song Perfect
Perfect (Fairground Attraction song)
"Perfect" is the title to Fairground Attraction's first single, released in March 1988.The single reached number one on the 9 May 1988 UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for one week, and stayed in the chart for thirteen weeks. It also reached number one in South Africa as well as in Australia for...
. In 2004, Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
was selected to be part of a new marketing campaign by Asda; her last advert was aired in August 2005.
From 1990 to 1992, they were the sponsors of Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
during arguably their two most successful seasons in modern times – when they won promotion from the Football League Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
as Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
winners and finished third in the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
(last season
1991-92 in English football
- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...
before the creation of the FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
).
In the smiley face "rollback" campaign, also used in Wal-Mart advertisements, a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
smiley face bounced from price tag to price tag, knocking them down as customers watch. The focus of these campaigns is to portray Asda as the most affordable supermarket in the country, a claim that was challenged by competitors, especially Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
. In 2006, Asda advertising was themed around singing children and the slogan "More for you for less", and the previous tap of the trouser pocket advertising was reduced to a double-tap on a stylised 'A', still producing the 'chinking' sound. This included an advert during the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
featuring the England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
football player Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
in an advert with the children singing Vindaloo
Vindaloo (song)
"Vindaloo" is a song by British band Fat Les. The music was written by Blur bassist Alex James and the lyrics were written by comedian Keith Allen. It was released as a single in 1998 and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The song was originally written as a parody of football chants, but was...
. In 2007, the advertising campaign abandoned the rollback hook in favour of featuring celebrities including Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
and Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
working as Asda employees.
For Christmas 2007, Asda reintroduced the "That's Asda price" slogan as well as the famous 'jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
' to some of its adverts, this can also be heard on its in-store radio station 'Asda FM
Asda fm
Asda FM is the in-store radio station for the Asda supermarkets in the UK.-About:Asda FM began on 7 September 1991 and is operated by Headland Media Retail at 2a Queen Street, Leeds, LS1 2TW....
'.
Starting in 2008, Asda has been returning to its roots and is now re-focusing on price with its new "Why Pay More?" campaign both on TV and in stores. Current Asda TV commercials in April 2009 focus on price comparisons between Asda and its rivals, using information from "MySupermarket" to suggest that Asda is Britain's most affordable supermarket. The music being used in these adverts is the Billy Childish
Billy Childish
Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
version of the classic Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
theme tune. The old Asda jingle is not included in these, but appeared in a 2008 Christmas advert.
Asda returned to the traditional pocket tap adverts in March/April 2009, with the slogan "Saving You Money Every Day!"
Asda has been winner of The Grocer
The Grocer
The Grocer is a British market leading magazine devoted to grocery sales, published by William Reed Business Media. It has been published since 1862. Its readership encompasses every aspect of the industry, from directors of the large multiples to independent retailers...
magazine "Lowest Price Supermarket" Award for the past 12 years, and uses this to promote itself across the UK. In August 2005, rival supermarket chain Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
challenged Asda's ability to use the claim that it was the cheapest supermarket in the country, by complaining to the Advertising Standards Agency
Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
The Advertising Standards Authority is the self-regulatory organisation of the advertising industry in the United Kingdom. The ASA is a non-statutory organisation and so cannot interpret or enforce legislation. However, its code of advertising practice broadly reflects legislation in many instances...
. The A.S.A upheld the complaint and ordered Asda to stop using it, citing that The Grocer magazine survey was based on limited and unrepresentative evidence as it examined the price of just 33 products, and that the survey did not study low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
, and that their price checker, My Supermarket, doesn't include Morrisons, which was mentioned a few times. As a result Asda no longer cites itself as "Officially Britain's lowest priced supermarket", instead using "Winner: Britain's lowest price supermarket award".
Through out the year, Asda has asked pricing strategics company Skuuudle to assist them in their campaign against rivals Argos for the Christmas season to produce price listings so shoppers can see transparent pricing on children's toys on the key Christmas lines, helping people save money though out the season.
Corporate social responsibility
Energy EfficiencyAsda was the top performing supermarket in the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Performance League Table, coming in at 37 and beating Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
at 56, Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
at 93, and Sainsburys at 164.
Ethical trading
Asda has signed up to the Ethical Trading Initiative
Ethical Trading Initiative
The Ethical Trading Initiative is an alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations working in partnership to improve the working lives of people across the globe who make or grow consumer goods....
(ETI) which respects workers' rights for freedom of association and a living wage. Implementing this initiative is difficult, however, because the concept of a living wage varies between countries and the buying strategies of a major importer like Asda have an indirect impact on national minimum wages by obliging governments to set them low enough to stop businesses from going elsewhere. Industry pressure groups such as Labour Behind the Label
Labour Behind the Label
Labour Behind the Label is a campaign for workers' rights in the clothing industry. It is the platform of the international Clean Clothes Campaign in the United Kingdom...
and War on Want
War on Want
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...
have argued that Asda and other budget retailers use unethical labour practices in the developing world to keep UK prices low. The National Farmers' Union, representing UK farmers and growers, has argued that Asda and other major supermarkets have made large profits and kept consumer prices low "by squeezing suppliers' margins to the point where many of them have gone out of business".
More recently, Asda's Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
roses, sold at £2 for a dozen, were said to be ethically sourced by the supermarket. This claim went against research carried out by War on Want
War on Want
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...
.
Sponsorships
- Asda sponsored English football team Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday F.C.Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
during the early 1990s. Also Asda sponsored Accrington StanleyAccrington Stanley F.C.Accrington Stanley is an English association football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system....
in the 1998–1999 season - Asda currently sponsor a stand in Prenton ParkPrenton ParkPrenton Park is an association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C. The club moved to the current Prenton Park in 1912. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent occurring in 1995 in response to the requirement of the Taylor Report...
, home of English football team Tranmere RoversTranmere Rovers F.C.Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...
. - Asda sponsors Kwik cricketKwik cricketKwik cricket is a high-speed version of cricket aimed mainly at encouraging children to take part in the main sport....
for Kids.
Call for Boycott
In October 2010, Chairman Andy Bond was a signatory to a controversial letter to The Daily Telegraph which claimed that "The private sector should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector, and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, so generating more employment opportunities." This prompted calls for a boycott of Asda, as well as the companies represented by the other signatories to the letter on the grounds that "Companies that support the CSR are failed corporate citizens.".
Asda Smart Price
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Value, Sainsbury's Basics and Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
Bettabuy range,which has now changed to Morrisons Value range.
The Smart Price brand can trace its origins to Asda's Farm Stores brand launched in the mid 1990s, which consisted of products that were offered at a lower price than the equivalent famous name brand product and Asda's own brand equivalent. The Farm Stores brand originally consisted of a small number of food only products, largely frozen such as frozen chips and a small range of ready meals, this range later expanded to include fresh food.
Smart Price products are almost always the lowest price option (known as Our Lowest Price) in a product category in Asda stores. Occasionally this difference is only a few pence, however in others it is a marked difference. For example, a box of Smart Price Biological Washing Powder costs 50 pence while the equivalent Asda brand washing powder costs £1.50 and well known name brand alternatives cost from £2 upwards.
The Smart Price label was originally a food only brand, however over the years it has expanded to cover almost every product range in the store, including clothing and furnishings with the George Smart Price brand. Like early generic products in the US some Smart Price products lack what can be thought of as 'frills' in the modern brand name or supermarket own brand, for example the Smart Price toothpaste has an old fashioned screw cap rather than the now more common flip cap and the Smart Price range of crisps come in traditional clear plastic bags rather than the foil bags common to most name brand versions.
George clothing
Asda has its own range of clothing known as George which was created in 1990. This is marketed as quality fashion clothing at affordable prices. Wal-Mart also sells the George brand in the United States, Canada and Japan (and in South Korea until Wal-Mart pulled out of that market). This George label was named after George DaviesGeorge Davies (retailer)
George Davies , is an English fashion designer and retailer.Davis headed Next from its creation in the 1980s, before moving on to start the fashion label 'George at Asda' in the 1990s...
, the founder of Next, who was its original chief designer. He is no longer associated with the brand, although it has aimed to remain true to the high quality, low price business model that he established.
In 2005, Asda stated that the George range was a £1.75 billion business, including sales from Wal-Mart stores in the USA and Germany. Mintel
Mintel
Mintel Group Ltd is a privately owned, London-based market research firm. The corporation also maintains offices in Chicago, New York, Belfast, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney...
estimate that George is the fourth largest retailer of clothing in the United Kingdom, after Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
, the Arcadia Group
Arcadia Group
The Arcadia Group Limited a British company that owns the high street clothing retailers Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and BHS, and the out of town chain Outfit, which sells lines from the other group chains...
and Next.
Asda was the first supermarket to stock wedding dress
Wedding dress
A wedding dress or wedding gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.- Western culture :...
es. Part of the George line, they cost just £60 while adult bridesmaid dresses ranged between £30 and £35, at launch.
Current stores
Asda originally had a "simple and fresh" store format, which under Archie Norman's team and the focus on a Wal-Mart style strategy became even more emphasised. The stores are generally white and green, with simplistic layout but built on a Wal-Mart larger footprint format – Asda's average store is almost 20% bigger than its rivals, but stocks 20% fewer lines.However, the preferred large-format stores have brought problems to Asda's growth beyond its spurts in both the 1990s and immediate post Wal-Mart era. With the UK's tight planning restrictions, the opportunity to increase retail space via new store builds has been limited. Rather than follow rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's into "local" format smaller-footprint stores, Asda has chosen to adapt its format to niche stores to retain longer term growth.
On 16 April 2010, Asda announced plans to open over 100 new non-food stores as part of an ambitious five-year plan.
In February 2011, Asda announced the purchase of 6 stores from Focus DIY, which will be converted into supermarkets subject to approvals and local planning consents.
Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres
Following the takeover by Wal-Mart, several "Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres" have been opened, creating some of the largest hypermarkets in the United Kingdom. The first Supercentre opened in Livingston, Scotland in June 2000. The Minworth
Minworth
Minworth is a village on the outskirts of Birmingham in the West Midlands area of England. It is located near Walmley, Wishaw, Warwickshire, Curdworth, Thimble End and Castle Vale....
, Birmingham store is currently the largest Asda Supercentre with a nett sales floor of over 120,000sqft. The Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
store is currently the second largest Asda Wal-Mart Supercentre and the third largest is located in Huyton
Huyton
Huyton is a suburb of Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, with some parts belonging to the borough of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It is part of the Liverpool Urban Area and has close associations with its neighbour, Roby, having both formerly been part of the Huyton with...
, Merseyside. There are currently 25 Supercentres in the UK.
Asda superstores
Asda superstores are large supermarkets with a non food offer slightly smaller than a Asda Supercentre. As of 2011 there are 231 superstores in the UK.
Asda Supermarket
The Supermarket division was formed in 2009. As of July 2010, there are 26 small format supermarkets some of which were acquired from the Co-operative. The first three acquisition stores opened mid 2009 in Wellington, Lancing and Pershore followed by Cumnock, Tweedmouth and Kingsheath in 2010.
In May 2010, Asda announced the purchase of the 193 UK stores of Danish discount retailer Netto
Netto (store)
Netto is a Danish discount supermarket operating in several European countries. Netto is owned by Dansk Supermarked Group, which in turn is partly owned by A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group.Netto also operates an express version of the store, known as Døgn Netto...
in a £778 million deal. The stores will continue to trade as Netto stores until early 2011, when Asda plans to integrate the stores into its supermarkets division, designated for shops smaller than 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²).
Asda Living
In October 2003 Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Living. This is the company's first "general merchandise" store, containing all its non-food ranges including clothing, home electronics, toys, homewares, health, and beauty products. With these stores they have linked up with Compass Group
Compass Group
Compass Group plc is a global contract foodservice and support services company headquartered near London, United Kingdom. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world and has operations in over 50 countries...
who operate the coffee shop Caffe Ritazza
Caffè Ritazza
Caffè Ritazza is a chain of retail outlets owned by Select Service Partner . It provides a range of coffees, pastries, ciabattas, panini and alcoholic drinks at many sites internationally.- Locations :...
within some of the stores. The first store with this format opened in Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, West Midlands, and at the time of writing has been followed by ten further stores.
Former Stores
George clothing storesIn 2004, the George clothing brand was extended to a number of standalone George stores on the high street, with the first George standalone store to open was in Preston. In 2008, all George standalone stores were closed due to high rental costs resulting in low profitability, The Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
and Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
branch were kept open as they are located next to the Asda store.
Asda Essentials
In April 2006, Asda launched a new format called 'Asda Essentials' in a former Co-op store in Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, followed by another in Pontefract
Pontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
a month later. This was modelled on the French Leaderprice chain, with a smaller floorplate than Asda's mainstream stores. Essentials focuses primarily on own-brand products, only stocking branded items that are perceived to be at the "core" of a family's weekly shop. This style of retailing is an attempt to address competition from discount supermarkets such as Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
, Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
and Netto
Netto (store)
Netto is a Danish discount supermarket operating in several European countries. Netto is owned by Dansk Supermarked Group, which in turn is partly owned by A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group.Netto also operates an express version of the store, known as Døgn Netto...
. On 6 December 2006 The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper reported that further planned store openings were under review following poor sales in the existing outlets. It was also revealed that the range of branded products has been expanded. In early January 2007 it was announced that the initial trial Essentials store would close within a month after only 10 months of trading.
Distribution
Asda also has 26 depots all across the UK which distribute across the network of stores. There are depots for chilled foods, clothing and ambient products, such as carbonated drinks and cereals.Other interests
On 10 June 2008 Wal-Mart announced that it has agreed to sell Gazeley Limited Group, the property development subsidiary of Asda, to Economic Zones World (EZW)Economic Zones World (EZW)
Economic Zones World is the global provider of sustainable industrial and logistics infrastructure. The company aims to create a robust network of economic zones, technology, logistics and industrial parks as well as build-to-suit developments across the world. It was set up by Dubai World as a...
, a Dubai World company. Gazeley is involved in the development of distribution warehousing in the UK, mainland Europe and China and has extended its operations to India and Mexico. Its customers include many of the world's leading companies, third-party logistics providers, original equipment manufacturers, retailers and their suppliers. Gazeley is also a preferred developer of distribution space for Wal-Mart International, including Asda in the UK and Wal-Mart China.
Asda Financial Services
Asda has established a financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
division, following in the footsteps of Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, Sainsbury's and other retailers. Asda simply attaches its own brand to products provided by other companies. Services they offer include insurance (provided by Norwich Union
Norwich Union
Norwich Union was the name given to insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It is the biggest life insurance provider in the United Kingdom, and has a strong position in motor insurance...
), credit cards (provided by Grupo Santander
Grupo Santander
The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
) and loans (provided by the Funding Corporation). The Financial Services division of the organisation does not directly sell these services in store and instead uses the supplier of that product by telephone or online/postal application. Until June 2009 selected stores had Credit Card Representatives provided by GE Capital Bank
GE Capital Bank
GE Capital Bank is a brand of GE Money, itself part of the General Electric Company.The brand is used as the name of seven banking divisions and subsidiaries in Austria, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Hungary, Hong Kong, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland...
and then Grupo Santander
Grupo Santander
The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
. Marketing and management of Financial Services is co-ordinated in house and many stores have a Financial Services Co-ordinator, responsible for promoting the products and ensuring legal compliance. The Financial Services division is also responsible for Gift Cards, Christmas Saver and Business Rewards.
Loyalty card
The company does not run a loyalty card scheme, stating that "we prefer to invest the money we'd use to set up such a scheme into driving down prices for our customers". However, the Asda-branded Credit Card (provided by Grupo SantanderGrupo Santander
The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
) offers a points scheme, though these points can be earned on all spending.
Internet operations
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, but this was closed with a number of redundancies shortly after as sales were lower than expected. It continued the online service, but emulated the Tesco store-based model instead.
Since the roll-out of the grocery delivery operation Asda has moved into non-food online retailing. Current categories include entertainment, contact lenses, furniture, travel, electricals, gifts, mobile phones and flowers, with more categories being launched each year.
In May 2004 it announced a major expansion of the service which would increase coverage from 30% of the UK population to 35%.The Grocer
The Grocer
The Grocer is a British market leading magazine devoted to grocery sales, published by William Reed Business Media. It has been published since 1862. Its readership encompasses every aspect of the industry, from directors of the large multiples to independent retailers...
magazine reported a turnaround in the fortunes of Asda's home shopping service under new head of Home Shopping, Richard Ramsden. More recently, Asda stepped up its commitment to home shopping, focusing on full UK coverage by the end of 2007. Andy Bond highlighted that Asda will be recruiting up to 1,800 new staff to bolster its operations and focus on competing with Tesco in the online arena.
In January 2007, Asda launched www.asda-electricals.co.uk to compete with Tesco's highly successful Tesco Direct. In October 2008, Asda launched direct.asda.com superseding its electricals website and also selling several additional product categories such as homeware, garden and toys.
This new venture is part of its online business Asda Direct, with more than 3,000 domestic and home electrical products. Asda's long term ambition to capture 5% of the £1.9 billion market by 2012. Recently, the company sold its Durabrand 1005 DVD player for only £9, the UK's lowest priced DVD player, which sold out in just two days from start of the promotion.
Financial performance
, TescoTesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
has a 30.4% share of the UK grocery market while Asda's share is 17.5%, followed by Sainsbury's at 16.1%, and Morrisons at 11.8%.
According to CACI
CACI
CACI International Inc is a professional services and information technology company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies and the Russell 2000 index. The company has approximately 13,700 employees in over 120 offices in the U.S. and...
, as of 2006, Asda has market dominance in 14 postcode areas; DY (Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
), B
B postcode area
The B postcode area, also known as the Birmingham postcode area, provides postcodes for the boroughs of Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire in England.-Coverage:...
(Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
), CH
CH postcode area
The CH postcode area, also known as the Chester postcode area, is a group of postcode districts near the England/Wales border. Having previously roughly covered the former Chester district and present-day Flintshire county, postcodes for the Wirral Peninsula were transferred to it in 1999 from...
(Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
), L
L postcode area
The L postcode area, also known as the Liverpool postcode area, is a group of postcode districts in Merseyside and Lancashire, specifically around Liverpool in England and including Bootle, Ormskirk and Prescot....
(Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
), WN
WN postcode area
The WN postcode area, also known as the Wigan postcode area, is a group of postcode districts in North West England that are sub-divisions of three post towns...
(Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
), BL
BL postcode area
The BL postcode area, also known as the Bolton postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around the towns of Bolton and Bury, along with outlying areas of Chorley, Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen, England.-Coverage:...
(Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
), BB
BB postcode area
The BB postcode area, also known as the Blackburn postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Accrington, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Clitheroe, Colne, Darwen, Nelson and Rossendale in England.-Coverage:...
(Blackburn), LA
LA postcode area
The LA postcode area, also known as the Lancaster postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Ambleside, Askam-in-Furness, Barrow-in-Furness, Broughton-in-Furness, Carnforth, Coniston, Dalton-in-Furness, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Kirkby-in-Furness, Lancaster, Millom, Milnthorpe,...
(Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
), HU
HU postcode area
The HU postcode area, also known as the Hull postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Beverley, Brough, Cottingham, Hessle, Hornsea, Hull, North Ferriby and Withernsea in England.-Coverage:...
(Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
), SR
SR postcode area
The SR postcode area, also known as the Sunderland postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Peterlee, Seaham and Sunderland in Tyne and Wear and County Durham in England.-Coverage:...
(Sunderland), DH (Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
), NE
NE postcode area
The NE postcode area, also known as the Newcastle upon Tyne postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Alnwick, Ashington, Bamburgh, Bedlington, Belford, Blaydon-on-Tyne, Blyth, Boldon Colliery, Chathill, Choppington, Corbridge, Cramlington, East Boldon, Gateshead, Haltwhistle, Hebburn,...
(Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
), G
G postcode area
The G postcode area, also known as the Glasgow postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Alexandria, Clydebank, Dumbarton, Glasgow and Helensburgh in Scotland.-Former postal districts in Glasgow:...
(Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
) and AB
AB postcode area
The AB postcode area, also known as the Aberdeen postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Aberdeen, Aberlour, Aboyne, Alford, Ballater, Ballindalloch, Banchory, Banff, Buckie, Ellon, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Insch, Inverurie, Keith, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Milltimber, Peterculter,...
(Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
).
| Supermarket | Consumer Spend (£000s) |
Market Share March 2009 |
+/- from March 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesco Tesco Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits... |
6,453,370 | 30.4% | 4.3% |
| Asda | 3,411,938 | 17.5% | 8.5% |
| Sainsbury's | 3,239,500 | 16.1% | 5.7% |
| Morrisons Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies... |
2,327,583 | 11.8% | 7.2% |
Employee relations
Asda has 150,000 employees, whom it refers to as "colleagues" (90,000 part-time, 60,000 full-time).The company has featured prominently in lists of "Best companies to work for", appearing in second place in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper list for 2005. It offers staff a discount
Discounts and allowances
Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic price of goods or services.They can occur anywhere in the distribution channel, modifying either the manufacturer's list price , the retail price , or the list price Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic price of goods or services.They...
of 10% on most items (exceptions include fuel, stamps, lottery, giftcards and tobacco related items).
Dairy price fixing
In December 2007 Asda, Sainsbury's and other retailers admitted to price fixingPrice fixing
Price fixing is an agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand...
dairy products between 2002 and 2003. Asda commented, "Everyone at Asda regrets what happened, particularly as we are passionate about lowering prices. Our intention was to provide more money for dairy farmers, who were under severe financial pressure at the time." So far in total these retailers have been fined £116 million. Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
and dairy company Lactalis McLelland denied any involvement in price-fixing; however, the Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
(OFT) says it will carry on its investigation. It was announced that the alleged price-fixing cost consumers £260 million.
Asda Mobile
Asda also operates a mobile phone network called Asda MobileASDA Mobile
Asda Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator in the UK, operated by Asda, using the Vodafone UK network. Asda Mobile was launched in April 2007. As of 21 August 2007, Asda mobile was available in 237 stores across the UK....
, which was launched in April 2007.
Awards
- 1997–present – Voted Britain's lowest price supermarket in a survey by Grocer 33 Magazine
- 2001, 2002, 2003 – Voted a top 10 UK employer by the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Employers Survey, although the merit of Asda being awarded such an award is contested by the GMB
- 2002 NestléNestléNestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
Social Commitment Award, awarded by peers in the food industry - March 2009 – Voted 'Innovative Employer of the Year' at the Oracle Retail Week Awards
See also
- 2007 UK petrol contamination2007 UK petrol contaminationThe 2007 United Kingdom petrol contamination problem arose on 28 February 2007 when motorists in South East England reported that their cars were breaking down...
- Asda MobileASDA MobileAsda Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator in the UK, operated by Asda, using the Vodafone UK network. Asda Mobile was launched in April 2007. As of 21 August 2007, Asda mobile was available in 237 stores across the UK....
- Langley MillLangley MillLangley Mill is a small town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It is on the border of Nottinghamshire, and runs into the towns of Aldercar and Heanor . Across the River Erewash is the Nottinghamshire town of Eastwood. It is part of the Aldercar and Langley Mill parish....
- List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom