Asda is continuing to bolster its customer team under chief customer officer Rachel Eyre, with the appointment of Chris Chalmers to the newly created role of vice-president of customer data and loyalty.  

Chalmers will join the business in January 2026, making him the second senior hire under Eyre’s leadership following the appointment of Charlotte Rhodes as vice-president for own brand last month.  

In his new role, Chalmers will lead the strategic development and execution of Asda’s loyalty programme, alongside digital and performance marketing for Asda.com and George.com. He will also oversee customer relationship management for both brands and the advancement of its customer data strategy.  

This marks a return to Asda for Chalmers, who was digital marketing director between 2012 and 2017. Since then, he has held senior marketing roles at Thomas Cook, personal shopping service Studio Retail and was most recently at JD Sports as global customer director.  

Asda appoints vice-president for own brand

Between 2023 and 2024 he was a consultant at Morrisons, where he would have crossed over with Eyre, who served as the supermarket’s chief customer and marketing officer from 2021 to this summer.  

“We are pleased to welcome Chris back to Asda to oversee our customer data, loyalty and digital marketing strategy,” says Eyre. “This is a strategically critical role that will help us build stronger relationships with our customers through smarter use of data, improved digital experiences and a revitalised Rewards programme.”   

Asda is currently in turnaround mode under new marketing and customer function leadership. The grocer experienced a tricky Christmas period according to Kantar data, with a 5.8% decrease in sales causing its market share to fall to 12.5%. Asda was also briefly overtaken by Aldi as the UK’s third biggest food and drinks retailer in April.

According to Kantar, Asda currently has the third largest share of the grocery sector. In the 12 weeks ending 7 September, the retailer claimed an 11.8% share of the market, ahead of Aldi at 10.7%. 

Work is underway to improve price perceptions. In January, Asda ditched its Aldi and Lidl price match schemes just 12 months after launch to “focus” on its own prices. As a result, the grocer reintroduced Rollback and Asda Price, with former executive chairman Allan Leighton returning this year to lead the turnaround efforts. 

Vice-president of marketing, Adam Zavalis, previously told Marketing Week Asda’s “not an overnight turnaround”, but the grocer is well positioned going forward. 

“All the combinations, from price to availability to our unmatchable mix with George [clothing], gives us a lot more strings to our bow than we’ve had in the last couple of years,” Zavalis added.