Asda launches price cuts as discount war hots up
ASDA has raised the stakes in the Christmas price war by slashing £150m from the price of products in a discount drive designed to put pressure on its rivals.
Asda, which has based its marketing on being the cheapest of the big four supermarkets, said consumers were still unwilling to part with cash.
A day after Sainsbury’s predicted a “feisty” price battle to lure spendthrift shoppers, Tesco waded into the fray with a promise to provide £250m in discounts, including a £6 Christmas turkey.
The focus of much of Asda’s discounting will be in non-food items, like technology, including games, TVs and DVDs.
Asda’s chief financial officer Judith McKenna said: “We believe this will be the most competitive Christmas for a decade.”
McKenna said: “Potential tax hikes and public sector job cuts are making people more than a little nervous.”
Asda, the UK’s second largest supermarket group after Tesco, has every reason to up the ante, revealing like-for-like sales growth had sagged in the three months to September 30, dropping to 5.7 per cent from 7.2 per cent in the second quarter.