TNS Worldpanel revealed that home shopping sales at the Asda jumped 71.8% year-on-year in the period to 15 June 2008, making it the #2 online grocer, pushing Sainsbury's to the #3 spot. Asda's chief executive, Andy Bond, admitted last year that the company had been slow to exploit the full potential of grocery home shopping, but since then it has been rapidly expanding its coverage in the UK.

Asda first overtook Sainsbury's in May and has remained marginally ahead of its rival since then. Food and drink account for the vast majority of the TNS Worldpanel home shopping sales, but these figures also include traditional non-food grocery items, such as cleaning products.

Asda declined to comment on any comparison with Sainsbury's but confirmed its online grocery sales had grown by more than 70% for the 12 weeks to 15 June. For the seven days to 15 June, Asda grew home shopping sales by 56%, while Sainsbury's was thought to have increased sales by 8.3%. Sainsbury's also declined comment on the figures but said that its total online grocery sales over the past year – as opposed to a 7-day or 12-week period – were ahead of Asda's.

Although Tesco remains in the top spot, the online shopping battle is set to intensify in the autumn, when Asda relaunches its website on a new platform. A key goal is to ramp up online sales of non-food products, but ultimately Asda wants to offer customers a fully integrated grocery and non-food shopping experience.