The piece published by The Grocer on 23 April makes a number of assertions that are not accurate. Given the importance of our mission to become the lowest price full-service supermarket in the country, I want to take the opportunity to set out the facts clearly.
Asda Price is about getting more items in your basket for the money you spend. As Ken Morrison used to tell me “Nowt in your pocket and glad e it”.
The Asda food range is approximately 27,000 product lines (SKUs). Since we launched Rollback in January 11,240 lines (42% of our range) have been through Rollback, with an average price reduction of circa 22%.
Our objective is to have all product lines at Asda Price by the end of 2026 using Rollback as the mechanism to deliver it. Rollbacks are for periods of up to 12 weeks, whether it be 3, 4, 8, 10 or 12.
At the end of the Rollback period products move to a new Asda Price which should be lower than the price it was before Rollback.
Read more: What’s Asda Price? The reality of Asda’s rollback price ‘reset’ is unclear
As of today 6,300 products are at Asda Price and 4,000 more are currently on Rollback. This will mean at least 10,000 lines at Asda Price by the end of May. 94% of products that have been Rollbacked are at a new lower Asda price compared to prior to Rollback.
633 products – or 6% – are at a higher price. However, the vast majority are still at the same or a lower price than our competitors.
Our price baskets show we currently have opened up between a 3-6% price advantage over our supermarket competitors based on their lowest price, which is available to their members only.
Finally, our inflation is on average 1.5% lower than our competitors.
We are proud of the progress we are making, but as I said in January, we aren’t looking for a quick fix; it will take time. And, like everyone, we aren’t always perfect, but our customers and colleagues are seeing the difference and we remain clear on our mission.
Allan Leighton is the chairman of Asda
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