Asda, Britain's third-largest supermarket chain, has abandoned its Aldi and Lidl price-matching scheme after just one year, marking a significant shift in strategy under returning executive chairman Allan Leighton.

The Leeds-based retailer is instead launching a major "Rollback" price-cutting campaign, reducing prices on over 4,000 products by an average of 25 per cent across all categories both in stores and online.

The move comes as Asda battles to reverse falling sales, after recording a 5.8 per cent decline in the final quarter of 2024 according to Kantar analysts, making it the only major supermarket to see sales drop during this period.

"Asda was built upon helping hard working families save money and we're refocussing on that mission by bringing back Rollback and Asda Price," said Allan Leighton, who rejoined Asda in late 2024 after previously serving as chief executive officer more than two decades ago.

An Asda spokesperson added: "We're focused on our own great 'Asda Prices' not competitor comparisons. We've started 2025 as we mean to go on by cutting prices on thousands of products and there's much more to come with Rollback."

The pricing overhaul includes significant reductions on everyday items, with products like Asda Thin Cut Beef Steaks seeing a 36 per cent price cut to £3.88 and Ben & Jerry's ice cream reduced by 44 per cent to £2.84.

Retail analyst Clive Black from Shore Capital noted that while the price cuts were necessary given Asda's market share losses, the chain faces additional challenges: "It's not just about price, Asda's stores have been dirty, availability's been poor, customer service has been weak and morale has been low, so they also have to address those issues."

The strategy marks Leighton's most dramatic move since returning to chair Asda, which is now majority-owned by private equity firm TDR Capital with Walmart retaining a 10 per cent stake.

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