Asda, which vies with J Sainsbury PLC, for the position of Britain’s second-largest grocer, has lost market share lately, as German rivals Aldi and Lidl have stepped up their game in the United Kingdom.

Like-for-like sales fell by 4.7 per cent in the second quarter after a 3.9 per cent slide in the first quarter.

He added that Walmart backed its strategy which includes new “save money live better” branding, avoiding short term offers as it strives to keep prices consistently lower.

Unveiling the results today however, Clarke was forced to admit the supermarket had reached “a nadir”.

Asda has seen its niche as the leader on low prices slowly eroded and has been forced to change its image. But Asda most certainly is not going away.

The company said it would achieve this by investing £1billion in lowering prices and £250million in revamping stores.

“Behind the negative sales number lies a more positive story for Asda”, the company’s chief financial officer Alex Russo said, telling investors in a conference call that profit was flat in the quarter. “Although we have hit our nadir, we are on an upward curve”.

Asda, one of the UK’s Big Four supermarkets, reported a 4.7% drop in like-for-like sales in the quarter to 30 June.

Clarke said the business continued to “navigate a steady course through the worst storm in retail history”.

Sainsbury’s is rolling out its successful Brand Match scheme to online orders from Wednesday 19th August as part of its commitment to ensure customers receive comparative value on grocery brands.

“With Brand Match now available online, customers can be reassured that we’re checking prices and doing the maths for them, online as well as in-store”, said Sainsbury’s director of online Robbie Feather.