UK supermarkets giant Asda has released its Q3 results with news that total group revenues, excluding fuel, have increased just 0.5% in the year to date while they declined 2.5% to £5.3 billion in the third quarter alone, with like-for-like (LFL) sales down 4.8%.

But while it has struggled, it enjoyed a record Back-to-School (BtS) season that drove a 4.9% increase in George LFL sales – with George the top schoolwear brand for families.

The company said the BtS range generated approximately £180 million in sales – its best performance to date. This accounted for 13% of the market, hence the statement that George was the top schoolwear brand. It added that “the ease and convenience of George’s digital offering also resonated with families, resulting in a 7.7% increase in George online sales during the quarter”.  

But the company is clearly facing some challenges as the overall sales performance shows. And it’s going all out to improve its performance for the current quarter.

With Christmas just over six weeks away, it launched its festive campaign and TV Ad last week. The ‘Gnome of Christmas’ features an animated team of gnomes who provide everything customers need for the festive season. It has already had more than 10 million organic views on social media since launch.

Despite that, the company has been in the news in recent days over head office job cuts. It reportedly made almost 500 staff redundant without a consultation period and other reports suggest more jobs cuts are to come.

There has been concern over the way the cuts were handled but the company’s chairman Lord Rose said it hasn’t broken any employment law and that it has awarded affected staff more compensation than would have received during a consultation.