Supermarket giant Asda saw a 1.6% drop in sales for the third quarter as its chief executive Andy Clarke announced that a “shockwave” was hitting the sector as a whole.

Mr Clarke said that, regardless of the fall in sales, he is pleased the market share is growing at a difficult time.

"A year ago we took clear action to address the changes in our market and implement a five year strategy to redefine value retailing. That is a long term strategy that won't be delivered overnight."

He added: "The last quarter has seen a shockwave go through our industry and others are starting to respond to the challenges they face. I expect that we will see another tough quarter and I'm under no illusions that the battle continues to rage."

Asda plan to make consumers shopping experiences more enjoyable by including new ideas such as a ‘coffee pod zone’ and nail and eyebrow bars.