Asda sales fall 2.8% in Q3 amid ‘severe’ tech disruption

Asda has seen like-for-like sales fall by 2.8% in the third quarter, as trading was hit by “severe” disruption to its systems following a major technology cutover amid Project Future.

Project Future is a multiyear programme which aims to separate around 2,500 legacy systems and move operations onto new platforms.

The disruption led to inconsistent availability across stores and online, alongside operational problems at depots and reduced functionality on a new app and website launched in August.

According to the supermarket, its systems have now stabilised, and availability is back over 95% with operational issues falling. 

Despite the impact on wider trading, Asda Express outperformed the wider convenience market with like-for-like sales growth of 3.5%. 

It comes as the company has restarted its Express expansion plan and aims to open up to 20 new sites by the end of 2025, taking the estate to around 500 stores. New openings include the first Asda convenience store in Liverpool city centre and an additional site in central Manchester.

Looking ahead, Asda said there has been progress in H1 and in recent weeks, and there has been continued investment through Q4.

A £12m upgrade programme is under way across locations in Yorkshire and nearby areas. Refurbishments include simplified layouts, modern lighting and refreshed signage, with work set to complete by early December.

Asda said progress in the first half and recent stabilisation efforts underpinned confidence to accelerate its Formula for Growth strategy through the rest of the year and into 2026, supported by what it described as a strong capital structure.

Allan Leighton, Asda’s executive chairman, said: “We said it would take three to five years to turn Asda around. We made good progress in the first half of the year against our ‘Formula for Growth’ with the best availability in eight years, a notable price gap versus competitors and a return to like-for-like growth. 

“At Q2 results, we said that the cutover from Project Future, although completed, would likely have a negative impact on our performance. This change severely disrupted our systems and materially impacted our progress, as we saw a step-back to inconsistent availability, operational issues at depot and in-store and a poor customer experience online and through the app that impacted our Grocery Home Shopping business in particular.” 

He added: “Since then, we have made good progress stabilising our platforms and the worst of the disruption is now behind us. Availability is back to where it was in June, operational issues are reducing and performance in recent weeks is improving, but we do not expect to re-establish our Q2 2025 position until Q2 of 2026.”