Tesco launches new initiative

In the race to keep its market share, Tesco is constantly trying to find new ways how to increase sales. The the initiative that the retailer unveiled will allow customers to order groceries online then pick them up without having to leave their cars...they just drive through give their name and order number and will be able to pick up the groceries.

The trial is to launch at the Tesco Extra store in Baldock, Hertfordshire, and will be promoted with leaflets distributed in-store and via online deliveries locally. Tesco hopes that this initiative will boost its online shopping, which to date generates sales of about £2.1bn and profits of £136m. This service, if it picks up, will also decrease the delivery costs and increase the potential profits of this service.

Who is expected to use this service mostly? The supermarket expects the service to be used by busy mothers, as well as young professionals who cannot commit to waiting at home for delivery. The need flexibility but at the same time cannot afford the time to shop instore. Customers will be able to order their shopping via Tesco.com, choose the 'click and collect' option and book a two-hour collection slot.

Unfortunately the service is not provided free of charge, which might affect the success of the project. A flat fee of £2 will be added to the bill. However the £2 could still be worth it for time pressed people.

Tesco Model found to be an illigal immigrant

Fatou Cham, a checkout girl (checkout number 6, Tesco, east London) was picked by Tesco to model for a glossy advertising blitz however she was later exposed as being an illegal immigrant.

Ms. Cham came to the UK from Gambia in 1998 on a student visa (studying banking, economics and finance at London Metropolitan University) however stayed after it expired in 2001.

Ms. Cham was chosen to model for the Florence and Fred clothing range by Tesco from a pool of hundreds of hopefuls for an ad campaign used in women's magazines. The advert showed Ms Cham modelling in a blue dress with the words below the image saying "Designed by F&F. Priced by Tesco. "

Immigration officers questioned her at her home in East Ham, east London, on Monday. She was quoted to say that she was excited to be chosen for the Tesco campaign and had hoped it would bring her other opportunities. However everything went wrong.

How do you think this might affect Tesco's image?

Tesco aiming to add a Bank to its portfolio

What happened of Northern Rock...is the Brisith Government seeking to rebuild the bank or will he try to sell it off with the aim of making a profit?

I found the answer while reading an article on a marketing magazine online...apparently Tesco is reported to be considering a bid for Northern Rock, the bank which was nationalised last year after running into liquidity problems stemming from the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Tesco, the largest supermarket in UK, already offers a range of Tesco-branded financial products, including savings accounts, credit cards and loans.

Opinion at the moment is that consumers see supermarkets such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer as more trustworthy than banks, and these brands are keen to capitalise on the sentiment. The Cooperative group for example already offers banking facilities to its customers. This is not the first attempt by a private company to buy the nationalised bank Prior to this Virgin had tried to buy Northern Rock. The Times reports that it is also considering making another bid, along with private equity firms.


The paper says that prime minister Gordon Brown is keen to sell Northern Rock back into private ownership at a profit before an election and avoid the Conservatives taking credit for any such deal. There are also plans of splitting Northern Rock in different Units and then selling each individual unit indipendently so as to make its sale more attractive.


This would leave "toxic" loans in the hands of the public, with one half of the business responsible for paying back money lent it by taxpayers. The plan must be approved by the European Union

Customers in search for a bargain and the large Supermarket Chains Thrive

I was browsing the Internet for some interesting articles and came across a very interesting achievement. Last week, Tesco's annual results were published and it revealed that it had passed the £1bn sales per week milestone. This has made it the company which achieved the all time highest profits to date for a UK retailer.

One might ask how come Tesco managed to achieve this milestone in the current economic climate? Are shoppers actually spending more? The answer is that shoppers are in search for bigger bargains so that they can make their money last longer. There are only two ways how this can be done; either by shopping in smaller quantities or else find better prices and who more than the biggest supermarkets can offer cheaper prices?

Tesco, Asda, Morrison and Sainsbury are amongst the supermarkets which saw the biggest growth in sales during the last quarter...however it was more interesting to note that Tesco was actually the supermarket which had the smallest growth with a 3.3% increase whereas Morrison and Asda managed to register growth figures of 6.9% and 6.7% respectively.

Both Asda and Morrison have actually increased their ad spending in order to further highlight their lowest price proposition. In fact it's not difficult to come across moneysupermarket surveys and other ads that claim that Asda is cheaper than any other supermarket (especially Tesco) in the UK. This strategy is especially important during this period as customers everywhere are feeling the economic strain. Supermarket giants are responding to customer changing needs in lower further their prices....however how is this impacting the supermarket suppliers? Some suppliers are facing difficult times as they want to keep their big supermarkets business, however they are facing the difficult challenge of making ends meet.

Some people and local organisations are opposing the growth of large supermarkets as this is threatening the survival of smaller family-run businesses. Will this result in an ultimate survival challenge? Let's wait and see how the market will continue to evolve and whether the rich will continue to get richer and in this case the small will continue to get smaller (or actually has to close the business).