Asda and Morrisons fare the worst after Christmas sales slide

Yorkshire's two big supermarkets Asda and Morrisons were the worst performers over Christmas and New Year as store closures and the success of Aldi and Lidl ate into their market share.
Morrisons saw its market share fall over the last quarter, according to new data.Morrisons saw its market share fall over the last quarter, according to new data.
Morrisons saw its market share fall over the last quarter, according to new data.

Leeds-based Asda suffered the most with a 3.8 per cent fall in sales while Bradford-based Morrisons saw sales decline 2.2 per cent, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel data.

Yorkshire’s loss was the discounters’ gain with sales at Lidl leaping 18.7 per cent while Aldi enjoyed a 13.7 per cent rise in the 12 weeks to January 31

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Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “We haven’t seen any effect yet from Asda’s latest £500m price cuts which only affected three out of the 12 weeks. Asda doesn’t have the convenience store growth so it has been harder hit. Asda’s business is fundamentally about its big stores so they need to focus on growth at the 95 largest stores. There has been a lot of turmoil at head office with a number of people going.”

Mr McKevitt said that Morrisons’ decline was largely due to the sales of its 140 M Local stores.

“Morrisons’ internet business is growing strongly and they are definitely cutting prices. Morrisons is getting a lot better, but if they are going to win they will have to steal market share,” he said.