About two fifths of customers at Britain’s Asda supermarkets are buying less and swapping branded items for Asda-brand products where possible to save money amid a worsening cost of living crisis, the retail chain said on Friday.
Britain’s households are struggling to keep pace with inflation which hit 9.1% in April, its highest in more than 40 years. Food inflation could reach 15% this summer and 20% early next year according to some forecasts.
Asda’s comments echo those of Tesco last week, while official economic data also showed British consumers cut back on shopping in May.
Asda said its latest monthly Income Tracker, collated by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), shows British households suffered another record drop in discretionary incomes in May and were 41.94 pounds ($51.41) per week worse off compared to the same time last year.