After announcing earlier this month it would slash around 200 jobs, Leeds, U.K.-based grocery chain Asda announced it is also cutting around 6,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) over the next year.
The operator of 580 supermarkets, nearly 500 convenience stores, and around 770 gas stations across the U.K., Asda recently reported that its like-for-like sales – excluding fuel – declined 3.4 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2024, while total revenue declined by 0.8 percent to GBP 21.7 billion (USD 28 billion, EUR 26 billion).
Asda Executive Chairman Allan Leighton warned that those issues could continue into its 2025 fiscal year.
“Looking ahead, we still have plenty of work to get our business firing on all cylinders again. While regaining customers’ trust will take time, we will undertake a substantive and well-backed program of investment in price, availability, and the shopping experience to deliver this,” he said. “This will materially reduce our profitability this year, which we expect to reverse as our market share recovers and improves over time.”
As part of that scaleback, Asda will slash around 6,000 SKUs via a category-by-category review that will be led by CCO Kris Comerford. Asda has already begun to reduce its range by nearly 20 percent, he told The Grocer...
