LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Tesco said on Tuesday it would introduce 40 new products to its discounter range as two surveys showed Britain's biggest retailer is continuing to lose ground to rivals associated with cheaper prices.
Tesco, which introduced 350 goods under the banner Discount Brands at Tesco in September, said the new products would appear in store this month and include "Sensation" hair colourants priced at 99 pence and "Sun Grown" apple juice at 49 pence for one litre.
"Sales of the discounter range are very strong with 1 in 3 customers now adding at least one product to their usual shop," a spokesman said in a statement.
However, data from researchers Nielsen and TNS WorldPanel showed that Tesco continues to lag growth at rivals such as Asda and Wm Morrison, as well as privately owned German discounter Aldi, despite its investment in new low-priced products.,
"It's a bit embarrassing for Tesco, given the promotional blitz, that they couldn't do a bit better," said Pali International analyst Nick Bubb.
However, he said it was too early to conclude that Tesco had made a mistake by adding an extra range of products while rivals such as J. Sainsbury have focused on promoting their own-brand goods.
Tesco shares, which fell more than 7 percent on Monday after it reported a drop in underlying sales at its South Korea operations, were up 2.7 percent at 331.7 pence by 1545 GMT, valuing the group at about 28 billion pounds ($43.5 billion).
Tesco said since the launch of the discounter range, customers had bought 7 million litres of "Fresh n Lo" semi-skimmed milk, 2.4 million rolls of "Spring Force" toilet tissue and 318,000 "Trattoria Verdi" ham and pineapple pizzas.
Earlier, the world's third-biggest retailer said it planned to enter the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Fujian next year to extend its reach along the full length of the country's eastern coast. ID:nLB199950 (Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Andrew Macdonald)