Supermarket giant Asda has revealed plans to improve in-store experiences after a drop in sales.

The supermarket, owned by Blackburn's billionaire Issa brothers, announced a 5.3 per cent decrease in like-for-like sales in the second quarter of 2024, which ended on June 30.

The plunge comes despite a two per cent total revenue growth excluding fuel in the first half of the financial year.

Despite the decline, Asda reported a strong online grocery performance in the second quarter, with sales accounting for 18 per cent of total food revenue.

George's back-to-school ranges (excluding footwear) have also been the market leader by sales volumes and value for 11 consecutive years.

Mohsin Issa, Asda’s co-owner, said: "These results highlight a period of robust online performance and a record start to George’s back-to-school campaign.

"Despite a challenging retail environment, George.com sales rose by 3.9 per cent and online grocery increased by 1.4 per cent, underscoring our steadfast commitment to delivering quality and value to our customers.

"As we move forward, we remain committed to maintaining our value credentials, enhancing the product offer, and executing our long-term growth strategy to build an even stronger Asda for our customers and communities."

Asda also plans to implement Project Future, Europe's largest IT project, to build a customer-oriented and data-driven infrastructure.

To improve customer experience, a £50 million store upgrade program has commenced, benefitting 171 supermarkets around the country.

Improvements have already begun in 130 stores.

Asda has pledged to increase availability across all categories, particularly its core grocery lines.

Additionally, the retailer has promised to invest an extra £30 million in staff hours, with more resources on checkouts over weekends and an improved cleaning process in-store have also been promised.

Michael Gleeson, Asda's chief financial officer, added: "We continue to make progress by investing in bringing our quality and value offering to more customers across the UK, with Asda’s food price inflation trending lower than the market.

"We have made great progress over the last few years in transforming Asda into a diversified retail group, much of which is almost complete.

"However, we also know that there are some areas where we can and need to improve.

"We have today set out clear and decisive action to deliver a more consistent customer experience – to match the uncompromising value we offer."