M RahmanCompetitors of ASDA (ASDA Competitor analysis)
This article aims to explore the main competitors of ASDA. ASDA is a British supermarket retailer, headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It was founded in 1949 and was acquired by the American giant Walmart in 1999 (ASDA, 2020). It has different types of stores e.g. ASDA Supermarket, ASDA Supercenters, ASDA Living, ASDA Superstores, ASDA Essentials, ASDA Petrol, and George stores.
ASDA is usually the second largest supermarket in the UK, though the position is often challenged by Sainsbury’s. In 2018, ASDA and J Sainsbury PLC decided to merge with each other; however, the merger was blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2019 citing potentials for increased prices for customers.
Competitors of ASDA
The key players in the UK grocery and supermarket industry are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, Waitrose, and Iceland. According to Kantar (2020), the market shares of these companies as of 12 weeks to 09 August 2020, are as follows:
Tesco: 26.6%
Sainsbury’s: 14.9%
Asda: 14.3%
Morrisons: 10.2%
Aldi: 7.9%
Co-op: 7.1%
Lidl: 5.9%
Waitrose: 4.7%
Iceland: 2.4%
As shown above, Tesco is the market leader in the UK, and well above ASDA and other competitors. ASDA is currently in the 3rd position, and in neck and neck competition with Sainsbury’s which is in the second position. The second position often changes nowadays with the title going sometimes to ASDA and sometimes to Sainsbury’s. The other rival that is also trying to vie for the second position is Morrisons though it is a long way to walk.
ASDA promises customers everyday low price (EDLP). This is the positioning strategy of the company. However, in recent years, it shifted towards even more on everyday low price to fend off fierce competition from discounters, notably Aldi and Lidl. For instance, it launched a new round of Rollbacks in January 2018, slashing prices across 1,000 everyday items, with cuts of up to 50% which is undoubtedly enormous (Quinn and Hegart, 2018).
ASDA must keep close eyes on both Aldi and Lidl. These two discounters are challenging everyone in the arena and their market shares are on the rise as well. While ASDA is promising everyday low price, it is not very easy to take this message to customers and persuade them as both Aldi and Lidl are well positioned as discounters. Therefore, it may perhaps be necessary for ASDA to explore new marketing strategies to vie effectively for the second position in the UK grocery and supermarket industry.
We hope the article ‘Competitors of ASDA’ has been helpful. You may also like reading SWOT analysis of ASDA and PESTEL analysis of ASDA. Other relevant articles for you are:
Stakeholders of Asda (An analysis of Asda’s stakeholders)
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Last update: 20 August 2020
References/further reading
ASDA (2020) Our history, available at: https://corporate.asda.com/our-story/our-history (accessed 18 August 2020)
Kantar (2020) Great Britain Grocery Market Share, available at: https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/en/grocery-market-share/great-britain/snapshot (accessed 18 August 2020)
Quinn, I., and Hegarty, R. (2018) Asda CEO promises more ‘everyday low prices’ in new strategy to take on discounters, available at: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/asda/asda-ceo-promises-more-everyday-low-prices-in-new-strategy/563388.article (accessed 15 August 2020)
Author: M Rahman
M Rahman writes extensively online and offline with an emphasis on business management, marketing, and tourism. He is a lecturer in Management and Marketing. He holds an MSc in Tourism & Hospitality from the University of Sunderland. Also, graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Business & Management Studies and completed a DTLLS (Diploma in Teaching in the Life-Long Learning Sector) from London South Bank University.
