Under pressure Asda must dig deep into data to find long-term identity for its business
UK grocery retailer Asda is facing a number of major challenges, including falling market share, declining sales, and substantial financial losses, primarily due to intense competition, debt from its 2021 buyout, and ongoing costs from separating from Walmart's IT systems.
It recently shared a Q3 2025 trading update, reporting total revenues (excluding fuel) of £5.1 billion and a 2.8% decline in like-for-like sales.
Asda is a fundamentally decent business but it has zero defensable differential, and that's a death wish. So says Richard Hammond, CEO and Founder at Uncrowd.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Can't beat Aldi on price. Can't match Tesco or Sainsburys on data, has none of the touches of Morrisons to even build a proposition on. Cannot afford to waste cash on digital. And back to Aldi, Tesco and Sainsburys; it has zero in-range step ups that can add a couple of vital pounds to most baskets.”
Asda must immediately find the customer scenarios that it can win today, and operationally double down on winning those, Hammond argues. Then it must closely analyse its relative competitive position store by store across the entire estate. That means getting the data on every competitor in market.
“It can be done, we do it every day. Use that pinpoint relative data to find the portion of the estate that has a local opportunity to win share, and take that while it exists,” Hammond commented. “Exploit others' local weaknesses, where they exist. And they do exist. We know this. All the while looking deep into the data to find the longer term identity for the business.”
He concluded: “Or, as is hinted for the forthcoming: it can slash and burn margin to the point where the room to do anything is gone and the capital owners lose patience. Asda is worth saving, it can be saved, but to do so requires vision beyond it's own green walls. I wish the current leadership all the goodwill in the world.”
Asda did not respond to our request for comment.
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
Grocery retail was a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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