Asda said it is accelerating investment in new technology as it revealed UK sales growth had slowed and its market share had been squeezed.
The retailer, which last month opened a major new outlet on the site of the former NCR factory at Wester Gourdie in Dundee, said like-for-like sales in the second quarter to July 5 had grown by 0.7%.
The figure was below the 1.3% return for the first three months of the year and dragged back first-half growth to 0.9%.
The company’s share of the UK market also shrunk to 17%, down 0.3% from the same period last year.
President and chief executive officer Andy Clarke was pleased with the results in a “tough market” and vowed to continue investing in its multi-channel retail strategy.
He said: “Our focus on opening up more ways for more customers to shop with us, particularly in areas currently underserved by Asda, provides us with real opportunity to grow space and channels to adapt our business to today’s customer.
“I’m confident this focus will continue to drive growth in a sustainable way.”
Asda, which is owned by the US retail giant Walmart, said it was committed to increasing its supermarket retail space and would be looking to increase its land bank in the months ahead.
It is expected to open 12 new superstores this year, creating a total of around 2,500 new jobs in the process.
However, the firm said it was not planning to go down the convenience store route taken by rivals such as Tesco, and will instead plough investment into upgrading its digital retail offering.
The retailer hopes to roll out a new same-day click-and-collect service which would allow customers to order goods online in the morning and pick them up later in the day.
Asda said it was maximising its relationship with its parent company to bring new technological innovations to the UK, and expected 75% of customers to use multiple shopping channels by this Christmas.
“The UK is an example of where we are leading with a core strength, investing in price on essential food items,” Walmart International CEO Doug McMillon said.
“However, the British consumer remains under pressure. Our price investment in food essentials and produce continued throughout the quarter, a key traffic driver which meant we grew market share in this category.
“The result was lower inflation across the overall basket for our UK customers.”
Asda has 568 stores employing 175,000 staff in the UK, and total sales last year were £22.8 billion.