According to Asda, man’s best friend maybe his dog, but as the Big Freeze sweeps the nation compassionate Brits are giving their furry friends extra TLC.

The supermarket retailer has experienced a deluge of customers stocking up and bulk buying treats to make sure beloved pets are protected from the Arctic temperatures.

The RSPCA is urging people to looked after birds and animals by sharing the extra titbit to make sure they stay well fed and put extra bedding out for indoor animals so they aren’t cold at night

Shoppers are making the most of the supermarket’s extra low prices on pet goods – even catering for back garden visitors such as birds in the freezing conditions

It’s not just us who want to keep warm and cosy, pet owners are buying blankets to keep dogs, cats etc from feeling the cold and have sold more than 3,000 units in 1 day.

• 3,600 essentials rolled back in price by 13% on average
• Customer Checklist launched as Shoppers rage against the ‘price gimmick’ machines

Today (Tuesday, 5th January, 2010), Asda announced it was beginning its biggest price rollback for a decade, and declared it was upping the ante in its campaign to rid the industry of phoney price claims, publishing a three point customer checklist for 2010.

Throughout January the price of 3,600 essential products and cupboard staples including potatoes, carrots, grapes, bananas, milk, nappies, rice, bread, cheese and yoghurt, will be crushed in price, saving customers millions of pounds off their weekly shop. The reductions are long-term cuts, with the vast majority lasting a minimum of six to 12 weeks. The average price of the product will be rolled back by 13%.

While the price cuts are deep, it’s the breadth of cuts that make this the biggest at Asda for more than ten years, with one-in-five products across the store rolled back in price. As a result every Asda customer is set to benefit, no matter what their budget, or what they need to buy each week.

Asda’s latest comprehensive set of rollbacks follows extensive research by the retailer to establish what their customers’ biggest concerns were going into 2010, and the products they’d most like to see reduced in price. The response was so diverse it led Asda to aggressively roll back the widest range of products for a decade.

Customers also said they were looking for more “permanent” price cuts, not “short-term promos”, and on the things they actually “want to buy each and every week”, rather than “phoney half price deals” or “bogus BOGOFs”.

Asda Corby is celebrating Burns Night in-store this week by giving customers a Rollback taste of Scotland.

The store, which sells the most Irn Bru outside of Scotland, has introduced a Rollback on prices for its customers in ‘Little Scotland’ on all Burns Night essentials such as £1 on Halls 454g Haggis.

The store sells thousands of haggis each year and in the run-up to Burns Night will expect to see an uplift of 700% on sales of Scottish Kestrel potatoes, a 40% rise in Scottish Whisky purchases and 700% in pre-packed ‘Neeps and Tatties’.

Paul Dover, Customer Planning Manager for Local in Scotland, said: “The residents of Corby are fiercely proud of their Scottish heritage, which is reflected in their yearly sales of Scottish products.

“We try to offer customers in Corby a wide range of quality Scottish products at great value to meet these demands, particularly around Burns Night.”

• 85% of women gain 3-5lbs over Christmas and have already ditched their diets
• George launches a revolutionary clothing range for ladies to cheat their way to the ultimate hourglass figure as curves make their comeback on the spring catwalk
• 72% of men are more attracted to curvier women, preferring the hourglass shape and women aspire to be more like Leona Lewis or Colleen Nolan than Cheryl Cole
• George reveals the formula for the perfect hourglass figure Bust Size + Thigh Length + Hip-Waist Ratio x Body Curve Line + Body Symmetry

Today, George at Asda introduces a fashion first, with the launch of the ‘Tummy Tamer’ dress and skirt designed to hide and sculpt those extra pounds and help women cheat their way to the perfect hour glass figure.

Asda has today reported a huge sales uplift in Burns Night essentials from its biggest ever Rollback of traditional Burns Night products, as customers choose to entertain at home this month.

The uplift has seen a 700% increase in sales of Scottish Kestrel potatoes, a 200% increase in sales of Haggis, a 40% rise in Scottish Whisky purchases and 700% in pre-packed ‘Neeps and Tatties’.

The strong sales come on the back of a Rollback on Burns Night prices with offers such as £1 on Halls 454g Haggis.

Increased cost of essentials and weak earnings growth piles pressure on family finances

• Lowest annual change in income tracker since March 2009
• 0.1 per cent year on year decrease in discretionary income of average UK household
• Spike in transport costs and weak earnings growth expected to continue in first quarter

The average UK family was no better off in December 2009 than a year earlier according to the latest Asda Income Tracker, marking the first time since March 2009 that family spending power has decreased.

As a result, the average UK household had £163 a week of discretionary income in December 2009, 0.1 per cent lower than a year earlier and a sizeable reduction from the six per cent year on year increase seen in November 2009.

Kids turning their backs on the classics in favour of Harry Potter and David Beckham

• Asda research shows that whole generation of children have turned their backs on classic literature
• 17% of children thought Fagin was a Manchester United footballer
• 6% of children thought Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is the title of Simon Cowell’s autobiography compared with almost half of all kids who can name the title of David Beckham’s autobiography

In the week that sales of children’s books have soared by 4.9% research from Asda shows that although sales of Twilight and Harry Potter are increasing many children have little or no knowledge of classic literature. The supermarket, who polled over 100 children and 2,000 parents on their reading habits, is predicting that should the decline in classics continue the likes of Bronte and Dickens could be extinct within a generation.