Supermarket retailer Asda reported a 3.4% year-on-year decline in like-for-like clothing and general merchandise sales in the third quarter of 20/23, with analysts citing “poor availability” and “lack of range” as the reasons.
SDA attributed the decline in the clothing and general merchandise category to “unseasonable weather” during the period, which impacted sales of seasonal ranges.
However, for the 13 weeks ended September 30, 2023, Asda reported sales of £5.4 billion ($6.7 billion) and a 2.8% increase in like-for-like sales compared to the same period last year.
The supermarket retailer also saw strong performance in key George categories such as back to school, which it said was its “best ever” performance in school clothing, with sales up 9% year on year.
In addition, Asda’s Q3 like-for-like food sales were up 3.2% year-on-year. The retailer said this was underpinned by the strong performance of its value range Just Essentials, with sales up 21% year-on-year in its second year since launch.
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “Despite inflation easing slightly, we know that many families are still struggling with the average household’s disposable income down 10% on two years ago. Throughout the quarter we have focused on helping customers save money when they shop with us and this remains our key focus. This means keeping prices low on the products they buy most, putting money back into their pockets through the Asda Rewards app and passing on savings wherever we can”.
Asda also said that to help ease the financial pressures facing families, it ran two separate price reduction campaigns during the quarter, cutting prices on over 600 popular products by an average of 10%, bringing the total amount Asda has invested in reducing prices for customers this year to £130 million.
