Asda, which is owned by US company Wal-Mart, is offering simple no-frills low price deals to attract customers who are facing pressure on their disposable incomes.

Asda finance director Rob McWilliam said that the company has noted that families are sticking to strict budgets and has introduced £5 notes to its ATMs earlier. It said that one in every five customers take advantage of the smaller denomination notes. Asda had introduced £5 notes to its cash machines after it bought the Netto discount chain during the previous year.

Asda also said that 600,000 shoppers log into its website every week to use the Asda price guarantee that assures a refund of the difference if the shop is about 10 per cent cheaper than at a rival store during the second quarter of the year compared to about 500,000 in the first quarter.

The company said that it is growing faster than the wider grocery market in the UK but said that customers are trying to stay within their budgets due to increased pressure on their disposable incomes. Even as the market faced a difficult position, the company managed to increase its sales by 1.5 per cent in the first half of the year. Its market share also increased 0.5 per cent to 17.3 per cent.

“The focus is always on the customer and customers have said that they have been benefitting from the flexibility of shopping outside the normal six-hour period. If giving greater flexibility to shopping hours pleases customers I would support that,” said Andy Clarke, the chief executive of Asda.