Asda has retained its crown as the nation’s favourite supermarket. John Wood reports
Asda has clinched a top accolade in UK grocery retailing for the second successive year. In The Grocer Gold Awards this week it was crowned Britain’s favourite supermarket after consumers voted it their preferred multiple.
The award was based on research by marketing information company ACNielsen which collected the views of 7,122 UK households statistically weighted to be representative of the overall population.
They were asked to rank retailers, choosing their favourite and second best in five key areas: price, range, quality, service and shelf stocks. They were asked to choose between Asda, The Co-operative Group, Kwik Save, Iceland, M& S, Morrisons, Safeway (the research was carried out in February before Morrisons took over), Sainsbury, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose.
Asda was voted top in four of the five areas - price, range, service and stock levels - as it was last year, but also improved the perception of its quality. Last year it was ranked third for quality behind top placed M& S and Sainsbury, but this year it overtook Sainsbury to take second place.
It’s been a highly successful 12 months for Asda. Last summer it climbed above Sainsbury in market share to take second spot and it has continued to boost market share and climb away from Sainsbury as the latter’s figures have continued to decline.
Asda’s George clothing brand has also continued to make rapid progress with the opening of four standalone stores. Both Asda president and ceo Tony DeNunzio and John Menzer, international director of Asda’s parent Wal-Mart, insist the four stores are trials and they want to see them trade for a full year before a decision about a roll-out will be made. However, at the Wal-Mart shareholder convention in Bentonville earlier this month, both were clearly delighted by the results so far, and the potential new avenue for growth. George received a further boost in May when Wal-Mart said it would become a global brand available in all 11 countries it operates in.
Last week Asda was named as Britain’s cheapest supermarket for the seventh successive year for its performance over the last year in The Grocer 33 weekly shop, achieving the highest number of cheapest full baskets in the past 12 months.
The retailer also narrowly won the instore service award for its total of 11 Storewatch titles over the year, just beating Tesco and Morrisons, but was prevented from making it a clean sweep when Morrisons won the award for availability.
DeNunzio said: “The key challenge is to maintain our price leadership position and we’re very pleased to have won The Grocer 33 for the seventh year running.”
However, he acknowledged the Morrisons deal had brought about an even greater concentration on pricing and that competition was likely to get even tougher.
Tesco will keep up the pressure, and with Morrisons, ranked third in terms of pricing, becoming a national player it could mount a stronger challenge to Asda. A breakdown of the figures by region show that in areas such as Yorkshire and Tyne Tees where Morrisons has a strong presence, customers rated it second behind Asda and ahead of Tesco, but in areas where it did not have a presence such as Scotland and the south and south west of England, it came last or second last.
If Morrisons can replicate some of the positive feelings in the stores it is taking over in those weaker regions, it could be looking at a higher placing next year.
Another regional player that scored well in its home areas, but was dragged down by poor scores in areas such as Northern Scotland, Wales, Lancashire and Yorkshire, where it has no presence, was Waitrose. However, as it presses further north with the purchase of several Safeways, it may also be hoping to climb in the rankings.
There was also a regional aspect to Tesco’s performance. Although it was ranked second overall, it retained the title as the favourite supermarket in southern England. Sainsbury had a solid performance in every region so hung on to its overall third place and was rated second in London after Tesco.
With new management at Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury, Morrisons’ new scale and with Tesco’s market-leading growth, Asda faces a tough fight to keep its crown.
Asda has clinched a top accolade in UK grocery retailing for the second successive year. In The Grocer Gold Awards this week it was crowned Britain’s favourite supermarket after consumers voted it their preferred multiple.
The award was based on research by marketing information company ACNielsen which collected the views of 7,122 UK households statistically weighted to be representative of the overall population.
They were asked to rank retailers, choosing their favourite and second best in five key areas: price, range, quality, service and shelf stocks. They were asked to choose between Asda, The Co-operative Group, Kwik Save, Iceland, M& S, Morrisons, Safeway (the research was carried out in February before Morrisons took over), Sainsbury, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose.
Asda was voted top in four of the five areas - price, range, service and stock levels - as it was last year, but also improved the perception of its quality. Last year it was ranked third for quality behind top placed M& S and Sainsbury, but this year it overtook Sainsbury to take second place.
It’s been a highly successful 12 months for Asda. Last summer it climbed above Sainsbury in market share to take second spot and it has continued to boost market share and climb away from Sainsbury as the latter’s figures have continued to decline.
Asda’s George clothing brand has also continued to make rapid progress with the opening of four standalone stores. Both Asda president and ceo Tony DeNunzio and John Menzer, international director of Asda’s parent Wal-Mart, insist the four stores are trials and they want to see them trade for a full year before a decision about a roll-out will be made. However, at the Wal-Mart shareholder convention in Bentonville earlier this month, both were clearly delighted by the results so far, and the potential new avenue for growth. George received a further boost in May when Wal-Mart said it would become a global brand available in all 11 countries it operates in.
Last week Asda was named as Britain’s cheapest supermarket for the seventh successive year for its performance over the last year in The Grocer 33 weekly shop, achieving the highest number of cheapest full baskets in the past 12 months.
The retailer also narrowly won the instore service award for its total of 11 Storewatch titles over the year, just beating Tesco and Morrisons, but was prevented from making it a clean sweep when Morrisons won the award for availability.
DeNunzio said: “The key challenge is to maintain our price leadership position and we’re very pleased to have won The Grocer 33 for the seventh year running.”
However, he acknowledged the Morrisons deal had brought about an even greater concentration on pricing and that competition was likely to get even tougher.
Tesco will keep up the pressure, and with Morrisons, ranked third in terms of pricing, becoming a national player it could mount a stronger challenge to Asda. A breakdown of the figures by region show that in areas such as Yorkshire and Tyne Tees where Morrisons has a strong presence, customers rated it second behind Asda and ahead of Tesco, but in areas where it did not have a presence such as Scotland and the south and south west of England, it came last or second last.
If Morrisons can replicate some of the positive feelings in the stores it is taking over in those weaker regions, it could be looking at a higher placing next year.
Another regional player that scored well in its home areas, but was dragged down by poor scores in areas such as Northern Scotland, Wales, Lancashire and Yorkshire, where it has no presence, was Waitrose. However, as it presses further north with the purchase of several Safeways, it may also be hoping to climb in the rankings.
There was also a regional aspect to Tesco’s performance. Although it was ranked second overall, it retained the title as the favourite supermarket in southern England. Sainsbury had a solid performance in every region so hung on to its overall third place and was rated second in London after Tesco.
With new management at Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury, Morrisons’ new scale and with Tesco’s market-leading growth, Asda faces a tough fight to keep its crown.
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