In the UK, the two biggest Supermarkets are Tesco and Asda. But which is the biggest?
Tesco was founded in 1919 and has grown to become the UK’s largest retailer, with a 27.6% share of the grocery market. Asda, on the other hand, was founded in 1965 and has a 16.7% share of the grocery market. So Tesco is bigger than Asda, right?
Not so fast. While Tesco may have more stores than Asda (3,441 compared to Asda’s 596), when it comes to revenue, Asda actually brings in more money.
In 2018, Tesco had revenues of £51.8 billion, while Asda had revenues of £22.9 billion. So while Tesco may have more stores, Asda generates more revenue.
But what about profits? Surely Tesco must be more profitable than Asda, given its larger size? Well, no.
In fact, Asda is actually more profitable than Tesco. In 2018, Tesco had profits of £1.3 billion, while Asda had profits of £794 million. So not only is Asda smaller than Tesco, it’s also more profitable.
So there you have it: when it comes to size, Tesco is bigger than Asda; when it comes to revenue, Asda is bigger than Tesco; and when it comes to profitability, again, Asda is bigger than Tesco.
Conclusion: So which supermarket is bigger? It depends on how you measure it.
