Asda is slowing down the roll out of its convenience stores and is cutting capital expenditure to focus on improving the in-store experience.

Despite unveiling plans in December 2022 to open 300 c-stores by the end of 2026, the grocer has so far only launched nine stores.

While Asda had forecast to open around 30 convenience sites this year, that target has been scaled back to 12, The Sunday Times reported.

However, an Asda spokesperson told the publication that it still plans to open 300 stores “in the medium term” and that there are 100 sites that it has identified for future openings.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

A spokesperson for the supermarket told Retail Gazette: “Asda completed the conversion of 478 convenience sites acquired from the Co-op and EG UK to Asda Express in Q2, and the retailer is set to open an additional 11 Asda Express convenience stores by the end of the year.

“These stores will bolster Asda’s presence within inner city locations, bringing Asda’s heritage in uncompromising value to more customers.”

It comes as the supermarket has reduced its capital expenditure budget by £100m this year, with the funds redirected to enhance product availability, improve store cleanliness, and shorten checkout lines.

The revised capital expenditure budget is understood to be between £350m and £370m.

Earlier this month, the grocer posted a 5.3% like-for-like sales fall in its second quarter, as chair Lord Rose admitted he is “embarrassed” by the supermarket’s performance and believes co-owner Mohsin Issa should step back from its day-to-day running. The grocer is currently searching for a new CEO.

A spokesperson said: “While we recognise that our recent sales performance is not reflective of where we want to be, we are addressing this in H2 by investing in even greater value for customers and delivering a more consistent experience in stores, including enhanced availability and checkout resourcing.

“Customers have noticed a significant improvement since we invested in hours, our store proposition and a focus on our top 1,000 lines at the end of June.”