Partner Article

Asda eyes European expansion after strong results

Asda announced it will expand into Europe with its online retail division, George.com, alongside a strong set of financial results.

The Yorkshire-headquartered supermarket’s American owner, Walmart, released a trading update on Thursday that showed a 1% sales increase for the full year.

Walmart also said in the 14 weeks up to 5th January 2013, like-for-like sales at Asda were up by 0.1% excluding petrol.

Andy Clarke, Asda’s president and chief executive, commented: “We continued to grow our sales while also investing in holding down the price of essentials, increasing access points to Asda’s value and putting money back in customers’ pockets when they need it the most.

“But this is no time to be complacent. It’s likely to be a challenging and uncertain year ahead and so we will continue to focus on the customer and adapt the business to their needs.

“By doing this, I’m confident we have a strong business that can drive growth in a sustainable way.”

Walmart’s international president and chief executive, Doug McMillion, added: “Looking ahead, we expect the market to remain tough in 2013 for our consumers.

“The marketplace remains very competitive, which is good for the customers and keeps us sharp.

“We are confident that our EDLP message continues to build loyalty and market share.”

In addition to these welcome results, Asda said it will expand its delivery capabilities to 24 new countries, including Luxembourg, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain.

George is currently the third largest clothing retailer by both volume and value in the UK, and a successful pilot in Ireland has encouraged the firm to carry out more extensive growth plans.

The first phase of the e-commerce plan in Europe is expected to complete by July 2013, giving overseas customers full access to all George products.

Asda has further ambitions to move into the Channel Islands and the Middle East, while a new franchise is set to open in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April.

More store openings have been anticipated later this year in UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, bringing the retailer’s global reach up to 35 countries.

Chief merchandising officer for George, Andrew Moore, said: “Our international growth strategy is focused on three key areas: franchising, online expansion and leveraging our relationship with Walmart using their existing stores to sell George UK products as well as their own ranges.

“We have invested heavily in developing the George brand; improving the customer experience online and in store, recruiting the best talent and growing our in-house design team significantly and ensuring that we are developing and sourcing high quality ranges.

“Customers globally, not just in the UK, are looking for real value in these challenging times and that’s exactly what we will be offering to millions more customers around the world.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .