UK's Asda competes with discounters for gaining market share

Britain's third largest supermarket group, Asda has said it would match prices of discounters Aldi and Lidl on hundreds of comparable grocery products, opting a similar tactic to bigger rivals Tesco and Sainsbury's. Asda, owned by brors Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity group TDR Capital,  cut prices of 287 products, including milk, bre, cheese, fresh meat and fresh fruit and vegetables, by an average of 17 per cent to match whichever discounter has lowest price. new pricing strategy comes after Asda underperformed rivals in 2023 and was a relative laggard over Christmas period, losing market share, according to industry data.

Market researcher Kantar on Wednesday published data that showed Asda's sales rose 3.4% in 12 weeks to December 24 year-on-year, while market leer Tesco and number two Sainsbury's h growth of 7.5 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively. Tesco and Sainsbury's have credited ir Aldi price matching schemes for stemming flow of shoppers to discounters, which between m have grabbed a 17 per cent share of Britain's grocery market. A spokesperson for Aldi said Asda's latest move was a gimmick and that only a tiny proportion of what Asda sells will be price matched.

" only place you get Aldi prices is at Aldi," spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Lidl said firm was committed to providing “all households access to great food at lowest prices.” Asda's latest price cuts and reductions on 1,700 products announced by Oco Retail on Thursday, d to UK's brighter outlook for food inflation. Kantar said on Wednesday grocery inflation slowed to 6.7 per cent in December from 9.1 per cent in November, fastest month-on-month drop that researcher has recorded and its lowest level since April 2022. (With Reuters inputs)