Asda takes aim at Amazon UK

Forget the High Street price war, the biggest battle this Q4 will take place online.

Asda has relaunched its entertainment site in a bid to win over consumers this Christmas, and says it will compete better on price with market leader Amazon.

It follows a string of etailer shake-ups in recent weeks.Play.com – which was last week bought by Japanese giant Rakuten – relaunched its site this month, as did GAME and Gamestation.

Asda’s move follows the arrival of GameStop.co.uk, which has also promised to be aggressive on pricing.

The grocer has split from white label experts The Hut Group to go it alone.We’re in charge of our own destiny,” Asda’s online head for music, video and games Frazer Locke told MCV.

It’s great for customers as we will be replicating the same prices online as we are in-store, if not cheaper.Our new infrastructure gives us the ability to be a lot more competitive with the likes of Amazon and Play.”

Asda’s new site boasts 300 games as well as 2,000 CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. It is run by a dedicated online music, video and games (MVG) team led by Locke, and key personnel include online trading manager Alastair Islip, online marketing manager Ally Mackie and MVG web designer Bryan Roberts.

The firm also has a dedicated MVG Contact Centre and on-site self service facility for customers.Digital downloads and pre-owned will also be added to the new website.

We will do more with digital downloads and pre-owned, but that’ll come next year. Right now we are trying to get the basics right,” added Locke.