Marketing Management Case Study

ASDA: Betting on Low Prices?

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Abstract:
ASDA, since its takeover by Wal-Mart in 1999, has been implementing several successful strategies, including the 'price rollback' and 'Every Day Low Prices' to attract customers. It has been, for eight successive years, ranked as the 'cheapest supermarket' by the Grocer, an independent magazine in the UK. However, continuous lowering of prices has reduced the profit margins of ASDA and led to a severe price war in the UK retail industry. ASDA has announced plans to diversify into non-food stores and financial services to improve profitability.

Pedagogical Objective:

• To highlight competitive landscape of the British retail industry
• To discuss the competitive strategies adopted by ASDA and the challenges faced by it in the retail sector.

Keywords : ASDA; Wal-Mart; Retailing; ‘Every Day Low Prices’; Price war; Supermarkets; Tesco; ‘Price rollback’; UK; Consolidation in UK retail sector; Acquisitions; Grocery retail; Strategy; Growth Strategies Case Study; Discount retail chain

Contents:

• British Retail Industry: A Brief Landscape
• ASDA – Britain's Cheapest Supermarket Chain
• Future Challenges