Asda announced a return to like-for-like sales growth yesterday, as plans for major restructuring take shape.
The Leeds-headquartered supermarket giant announced a massive restructuring plan which will put more than 4,000 managerial jobs into consultation, but will create 900 new customer facing roles. There is currently a 12 week consultation phase taking place.
This will leave 2,600 “displaced” managers who will be offered the role of section leader - traditionally a pay grade down from department manager.
The move is to help place more focus on e-commerce, such as click and collect services, and has already been tested in 20 stores, Asda said. It said these stores have been performing ahead of expectations.
“We haven’t updated our structure for five to six years," Asda chief operating officer Mark Ibbotson told Retail Week.
"We’ve got to have a business with an eye on the future. We believe we are about 18 months ahead of our competitors, they’re all going to have to do this at some point.”
In November the chain announced plans to cut prices in an effort to compete with the rising force of discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl and undercut its rivals among the big grocers.
As a result it is seeking £1 billion of cost savings over the next five years.
Asda, which trails market leader Tesco in annual sales, and is competing with Sainsbury's to be Britain's No 2 grocer, said like-for-like sales rose 0.1% in the 15 weeks to 20 April compared with the same period last year.
That followed a decline of 0.1 percent in its previous Christmas quarter.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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