One of the largest supermarkets in the UK Asda have now warned of the 'stark challenges' that is facing families. The warning comes as shoppers are on average £40 a week worse off as as a result of the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Bosses of the retailer spoke to a trade magazine the Issa brothers have said that the saw a 9% drop in sales in the first quarter of 2022. They have told The Grocer that the impact was likely down to the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic prompted an exceptional quarter one of the last financial year. The third national lockdown resulted in a boom in supermarket sales reports Wales Online.
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The retailer saw like-for-like food sales drop by 7% so far this year. The supermarket says this is as a result of more people eating out now that the Covid restrictions that have been in place for the last couple of years have been lifted.
However in clothing sales significantly and they were down 19.3%. Clothing is not the worst however as general merchandise was down 23.7%.
Asda have put those drops down to non-essential retailers being forced to close this time last year due to the Covid-19 lockdown rules at the time. The figures came as an announcement to investors and it saw Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa stress the 'severe cost pressures' that is currently facing families.
Along with that Asda's Income Tracker showed the investors that households across the country have on average, £40 less a week on disposable income. Since the tracker was introduced back in 2008 this is the biggest drop.
The tracker also showed that the largest fall has been in the under 30 and over 75 age groups. As a result Asda have said it has invested more than £90 million to expand its new Just Essentials value range they have also locked in the prices of 100 family favourites.
Speaking to The Grocer, Mohsin Issa said: "The latest Asda Income Tracker highlights the stark reality facing millions of families in the UK right now with household incomes more squeezed than ever. Asda has a strong heritage of investing in price and customers can trust us to be on their side when they need it the most.
"We are investing in helping our shoppers manage the challenges of the here and now, as well as progressing critical strategic initiatives including loyalty, convenience and enhancing our in-store offering, which will all deliver long-term value."
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