BIG four supermarket Asda has pledged to create 2500 jobs in the UK after unveiling a 4.5% rise in total sales to £22.8 billion last year.
The new jobs will be brought on stream on the back of a £700 million investment the company plans to make in new and existing stores, its supply chain, and in continuing to develop its online presence this year.
Asda, owned by US retail giant Walmart, said it was now the UK's second biggest online grocer after recording double-digit percentage growth via its website in 2012 on a year-on-year basis. It said that as demand for online shopping continued to grow, the focus was now on "accelerating its multi-channel business".
Last year, Asda enhanced its home shopping capacity by opening a third purpose-built picking centre in Nottingham, which created 600 jobs, extended its delivery slots to between 6am and 11pm and expanded its online product range to more than 25,000 items.
Asda said it was also investing in click and collect facilities for George clothing and general merchandise in all of its 568 stores, stating that customers would be able to collect grocery shopping in almost 200 outlets by the end of the year.
However, it maintained that bricks and mortar stores would continue to be central to its prospects.
Asda has opened two new stores so far in 2013, including one in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, and plans to add a further 10 over the course of the year, with Dundee and Fraserburgh on the agenda.
The new openings will include four new small-format supermarkets, five superstores and a non-food outlet.
Asda, which currently employs 175,000 staff across stores and depots in the UK, provided the update ahead of the announcement of its first quarter results on May 6.
Asda president and CEO Andy Clarke said: "I'm proud that in the continuing and very challenging trading environment we were able to increase total sales by 4.5% last year. This shows that we are continuing to get it right for customers.
"By focusing on their needs through accelerating our investment in the technology and infrastructure to make shopping more convenient, customers can shop for what they want, when they want it."
Asda's sales update came as new figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks ended April 14 put its share of the UK grocery market at 17.5%, making it the country's second biggest supermarket behind Tesco.
Tesco remains out in front with 29.9%, while Sainsbury's recorded growth of 5.4%, to increase its market share to 16.9%.
Morrisons' share was measured at 11.5%.
Kantar said its figures suggest the grocery market was becoming increasingly polarised.
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