Asda nears end of £1bn IT overhaul after months of delays
Asda is finally close to completing its long-delayed £1bn IT upgrade, six months later than planned, as it looks to support a wider turnaround push.
The supermarket is in the final stages of cutting ties with former owner Walmart’s systems, according to The Telegraph, with the last stores due to switch to a new digital network within weeks.
The four-year programme, called Project Future, was originally set to finish in February but faced multiple setbacks, including a March 2023 payroll glitch that left thousands of staff with incorrect payslips.
The delays had put Asda at risk of a fine for missing a Walmart cut-off date; however, it is understood that an extension was agreed.
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Meanwhile, in March hundreds of jobs that were hired for the IT project have been cut in the run-up to completion, with Asda calling the project “mission critical” to its recovery.
Speaking at the time, an Asda spokesperson said: “For many teams the work is done and so it is natural that colleagues leave the project as the specific workstreams they are working on are completed or as their contracts finish.”
Chairman Allan Leighton, who took over last November, has previously stressed there will be “no quick fixes” in the turnaround of the supermarket chain, but is pushing ahead with store revamps and price cuts.
In recent years, Asda’s market share has fallen from 15% at the time of its 2021 takeover to 11.8% in July this year, though Leighton says recent sales data shows signs of improvement.
4 Comments. Leave new
I have been having my shopping delivered since COVID – no problems but now with the changes it has been a nightmare to use the site. Hopefully they will soon put things right.
They need to go back to the old website the new site is trash
Walmart own the old site so they cant
Nightmare double delivery on July 29th returned wrong order and only received credit 3 weeks later.I have a weekly delivery for last 5 or 6 years but this new system was not normal.