Asda weighs in to online shopping war

Asda has announced plans to expand its internet services in a bid to take on rivals Sainsbury's and Tesco, having originally been slow to embrace ecommerce.

The Wal-Mart owned supermarket chain said the new online service will create 1,800 jobs for drivers, back-office staff and people delivering goods to customers' homes.

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An Asda spokeswoman said 157 out of the total 310 stores will offer online shopping by October next year, compared with just 91 at present, giving Asda a similar level of geographic coverage to Sainsbury's and Tesco.

But the store has some ground to make up on its largest rival. Tesco's online sales soared to almost £1bn earlier this year, with the online profit increasing by 54.9 per cent to £56.2m.

The Asda online service will offer food, health and beauty items, bedding, lighting, domestic appliances and electrical goods.