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Asda, the Wal-Mart owned supermarket chain, has attributed a 6.9% growth in third-quarter sales to bargain-hunting shoppers.

The retailer said that sales of non-food merchandise had "outperformed all major general merchandise retailers."

The strongest growth was in baby, music, video and games, it added.

Asda reported that its home delivery business was now the second largest, covering 90% of the UK population, it has increased its delivery capacity for Christmas by 40%.

The retailer, which recently launched an online service for non-food consumers, is set to open a further six stores by the end of the year.

It said that increasing numbers of shoppers from the A and B social classes were coming to its stores, and were also spending more.

Judith McKenna, chief financial officer, said: "We have continued to grow volume and gain market share each quarter this year by focusing on giving our customers great quality and outstanding value at a time when they need them most. Our strategy of being the lowest cost to operate supermarket is the right one, and is helping us drive down prices."

Asda's parent company Wal-Mart reported a 7% increase in third-quarter operating income to $3bn (£2bn), while its net sales increased by 8% to $97.6bn.