Shoppers from Swindon say they are "not surprised" that a major supermarket has been left fighting to survive, as many believe the shop has been on a downhill spiral.

This month, the GMB trade union, which represents thousands of workers, revealed that supermarket giant Asda is in a "fight for survival" as data shows its sales fell six per cent in just three months.

This brings the retailer's share of the grocery market to just 12.6 per cent - the lowest it had been in 13 years - and Asda has now been told to take "urgent action" to "protect jobs" in Swindon.

Swindon has two prominent Asda supermarkets in town, at North Swindon's Orbital Shopping Park and at West Swindon's West Swindon District Centre, and many in Swindon say GMB's announcement is not a surprise.

"Over the last few years, Asda has got progressively worse," said Adver reader Neil Waterhouse.

"Empty shelves, poor quality produce. It's dark, unclean and there is a distinct lack of staff.

"Profits would improve if the store improved."

Swindon shoppers say their shopping experience at Asda has gone downhillSwindon shoppers say their experience at Asda has gone downhill (Image: Getty Images)

Another customer Sharon Ritchings added: "Asda Orbital's a huge store mostly taken up with clothing. I would shop there in a heartbeat if the shelves and freezers were full of food."

But resident Claire Jones puts Asda's loss in profits down to the Swindon stores' having shifted their focus onto self-service tills.

"People don't just go in there for their groceries, most go to chat to an actual person," she said.

Asda shopper Danielle, whose surname has not been revealed, added: "No one wants to put a trolley full of shopping through self-scan that’s why they're struggling.

"Bring back till staff as the staff on self-scan are overloaded and the self-scan tills need their help every two items."

There are two Asda supermarkets in SwindonThere are two Asda supermarkets in Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

GMB union says that decisions to cut staffing hours had led to lower standards and a loss of customer trust, as can be seen in Swindon.

These decisions come after Asda was purchased by billionaire Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital for £6.8b in 2020.

In a statement provided to The Guardian, an Asda spokesperson said: “We recognise and accept that there are areas that need improvement and have set out the priorities we need to focus on to address that challenge.”

They added: "Unlike our competitors, Asda is undertaking an extensive period of transformation.

“While we have recognised that our recent sales performance is not reflective of where we want to be, Asda remains firmly the third largest supermarket in the country.

"We delivered total revenue growth, excluding fuel, of two per cent in the first half of 2024 and continue to see growth in both our online division and George business.”

TDR Capital declined to comment when approached by the national newspaper.