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Hot on the heels of the launch of its Jersey-based online home entertainment offering, Asda is keeping the pressure high on the rest of retail, with its latest move to increase sales in the electrical market.
In a bid to compete more effectively with the likes of Dixons and Comet, the supermarket chain has made a range of price cuts on key products. Flatscreen TVs, for example, are now under ?230, while a recordable DVD player has been introduced for under ?100.
Standard DVD players are already available in-store for less than ?25, with The Retail Bulletin reporting that Asda now sells one in every four DVD players sold in the UK.
As well as flatscreens, Asda has also slashed prices on digital cameras, MP3 players and home cinema speaker systems.
"We reckon our latest electrical range will send a shock wave through the industry," said David Stewart, electrical general manager at Asda. "We’re determined to ensure luxury items like LCD widescreen TVs are made more affordable."
Meanwhile, determined not to be left behind, Tesco is also expanding its electrical range. The firm has introduced an increased range of digital products into 200 Tesco stores, with MP3 players available in 69 outlets.
The cheapest MP3 will be ?24.97 for an Inovix 128Mb system, while Tesco will also stock Apple iPod Shuffle and the Creative Zen Micro. Digital cameras have also gone on shelves, while Linksys ? the consumer division of Cisco ? has revealed Tesco will stock a range of its wi-fi products to allow home wireless networking.
"By stocking a wide range of the best known brands at their local Tesco store and providing easy-to-understand information and instructions, we expect new customers to be attracted to the digital trend, many for the first time," said Matthew Finch, electronics buyer at the supermarket.
