case study of tesco

Tesco Case Study: How an Online Grocery Goliath Was Born

Tesco boasts an impressive history in the UK and abroad. Over the years, the grocery goliath has achieved continued success by remaining at the forefront of retail trends, including everything from self-service shopping to international expansion. More recently, Tesco has made its mark with a sophisticated online grocery strategy that enables seamless digital shopping. There’s a lot that can be gleaned from Tesco’s eCommerce efforts. In this Tesco case study, we highlight the retailer’s long-term emphasis on customer service, which can be seen not only in its physical locations but also in its eCommerce strategy.

Table of Contents – Summary

A Brief History of Tesco

Tesco’s and world’s first virtual store, tesco and scandals, how tesco became a retail case study favorite, tesco’s ecommerce website, interesting technologies that tesco’s uk site uses, impressive tesco stats you may not know, faq on tesco.

• The Tesco Success

To understand current growth and successes and why they warrant a Tesco case study, it helps to understand the retailer’s history. Founded in 1919, the company initially consisted of a group of high-performing market stalls. Founder Jack Cohen conceived the idea shortly after leaving the Royal Flying Corps as World War I drew to a close. He used demobilization funds known as “demob money” to purchase surpluses of fish paste and golden syrup.

Tesco’s initial success could largely be attributed to Cohen’s understanding of mass-market sales. In a time of strict austerity, he employed a rigid business model of “stack ’em high, sell ’em low.” The brand also set itself apart by embracing a self-service approach, which, at the time, was rare in the UK. Following the introduction of its first supermarket in 1956, the retailer entered an era of rapid growth.

After emerging as the UK’s preeminent grocery chain, Tesco released the revolutionary Clubcard. During the 1990s, the chain expanded to include thousands of international locations. This was quickly followed by investments in internet retailing, which led to the chain’s current status as a top eCommerce grocer, netting  £1.3 billion in pre-tax profits  for the year ending in February 2018.

In 2011 Tesco was the first-ever retailer building the world’s 1st virtual grocery store in South Korea. The experiment took place in a subway station and the results were tremendous: the number of new registered members rose by +76%, online sales increased by +130% and Tesco became South Korea’s no1 online grocery retailer, outranking its rivals e-mart, so this experiment was one of the first key steps towards Tesco’s digital transformation.. After this phenomenal success, Tesco opened its first European virtual grocery shop in Gatwick Airport, UK. See how they did it in this brilliant video:

Tesco has occasionally suffered controversy in the last several decades, with 2 shocking moments that everyone remembers:

• The Horse Meat Scandal: Back in February 2013, several products believed to consist entirely of beef were found to contain horse meat. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland tested a range of cheap frozen beefburgers and it found that Tesco’s sample contained 29% horse instead of beef .  The retailer made every effort to appease concerned customers. One of which included a notable promise to tighten up its supply chain and purchase a more significant share of its meat from the UK. Such efforts have likely played into the grocery chain’s recent logistics successes.
• The Accounting scandal: It was 2014 when the news dropped like a bomb: an FTSE 100 firm could get away with “cooking the books”. The company admitted submitting overstated profits by £250 million . The results? £2 billion off the supermarket’s share price in one day.

How Tesco thrived in the COVID-19 area

During Q1 2021, Tesco reported that the sales from its online store were “remarkably higher” than before the Covid-19 crisis. As Internet Retailing mentions , Tesco’s sales increased by +22% in 2020, even though the physical stores and hospitality re-opened at some point. It is believed that this success was a result of Tesco’s recent delivery enhancements and doers mentality, implemented during the first lockdown. 

It’s revenue analysis shows that 1.3m online orders were conducted only in spring 2021. This means that the total number of transactions was 81.6% higher than the same period in 2019 (a before Covid-19 year), proving that Tesco actually turned COVID-19 into an opportunity for its business, achieving memorable results by quickly adjusting its business model to the pandemic’s needs.

Despite the horsemeat scandal, Tesco remains a customer favorite throughout the United Kingdom. The Tesco case study has become a common phenomenon, as the chain boasts several unique strengths worth emulating on a broad scale.

Over the years, the retailer has shifted its original “stack ’em high, sell ’em low” approach. While affordability remains a priority, Tesco did not pursue it to the detriment of quality. Instead, it combines reasonable prices with exceptional convenience and customer service. This can be seen in physical stores and eCommerce alike.

Excellent Customer Service

Strong customer service lies at the heart of Tesco’s sustained success. The retailer employs a variety of initiatives to keep consumers happy. Customer-oriented product development, for example, ensures that all stores are stocked with the items visitors actually want. This development process includes rigorous consumer testing to ensure that new products and services are well-received. Customized stores lend further appeal; each is designed based on carefully analyzed demographics.

Quality customer service means making accommodations for all consumers—including those with special needs. Tesco accomplishes this through the use of sunflower lanyards, which allow customers with hidden disabilities to secure additional assistance discreetly. The chain also provides induction loops for hard-of-hearing customers, as well as helpful visual guides for consumers with autism.

Ultimately, Tesco’s impressive customer service derives from its top-down approach, in which a commitment to customer satisfaction permeates every element of the company’s culture. Insight Traction’s Jeremy Garlick tells The Grocer that the key to large-scale retail success lies in “ understanding your customers, anticipating their needs, and giving them what they will value.” Tesco checks off all these boxes. This is true both in stores and with its website, which uses an intuitive layout to ensure that customers can quickly access the products and services they desire.

Product Diversification

Tesco may be best known as a grocery chain, but the retailer provides a surprising array of products and services. It aims to serve as the ultimate one-stop-shop for those who prioritize convenience and quality above all else. Customers can expect to find a collection of produce, dry goods, frozen products, and more. Toiletries, household products, pet food, and even apparel can also be located within Tesco stores and on the retailer’s eCommerce website.

Beyond its many product offerings, Tesco also provides a few key services to enhance customer convenience. Tesco Bank, for example, offers everything from credit cards to pet insurance. These digital offerings play largely into Tesco’s eCommerce strategy, with banking customers capable of accessing their account information online.

Fine-Tuned Logistics

Quality customer service is not possible without an effective logistics and supply chain strategy. Strong relationships with suppliers are essential, especially as Tesco seeks to diversify its already vast product collection further. Efficient routes ensure that produce and other time-sensitive products arrive promptly in stores—and are quickly distributed to customers taking advantage of the chain’s affordable home delivery program.

Ongoing investments in telematics promise to further improve Tesco’s already fine-tuned supply chain. New monitoring tools offer greater insight into the trip status and real-time decision-making—and how these elements play into both profit margins and long-term customer satisfaction.

Digital customers, in particular, appreciate Tesco’s tight supply chain. When they order items online, they can rest assured, knowing that their favorite products will consistently be in stock. What’s more, online customers feel confident that delivered items will be fresh and of exceptional quality.

Insane International Expansion

Tesco may currently dominate the UK grocery market, but it’s also an international force. While the retailer pulled out of the United States in 2014, it has enjoyed sustained growth in Eastern Europe and Thailand.

Just as Tesco targets its international in-store efforts to reflect local populations, it designs its global eCommerce strategy around a diverse consumer base. Different websites are offered in each target country, with text provided in both English and the respective region’s primary language.

Customer Loyalty

Brands such as Costco and Amazon prove that customer loyalty can pay dividends for a company’s bottom line. Tesco demonstrated this long ago with the Clubcard, which encourages customers to prioritize the chain over competitors.

Today, the Clubcard continues to play a crucial role in Tesco’s success. Further transformation is in store, as Tesco recently unveiled a £7.99 per month subscription service called Clubcard Plus . Subscribers will receive significant discounts above and beyond those offered through the traditional Clubcard, including a permanent 10 percent off many of the store’s most beloved brands. Given the current popularity of subscription services, this could prove an excellent opportunity to get existing customers even more enmeshed in the Tesco ecosystem and more responsive to eCommerce marketing automation efforts.

Tesco’s eCommerce strategy reflects the brand’s commitment to value and convenience. These priorities are evident in everything from the logo to the images and even the general layout. Website visits are just as efficient and orderly as in-person purchases at Tesco’s physical locations. Tesco’s website, like its stores, may not be fancy—but it gets the job done. In this Tesco case study, we’ve analyzed several of the key eCommerce strategies that help Tesco’s page stand out in a competitive digital marketplace, as well as a few areas that warrant improvement.

Analyzing Tesco’s Homepage

What We Liked

• Easy to navigate . Today’s impatient customers demand easy-to-navigate websites that almost instantly get them from point A to point B. Tesco’s homepage appeals greatly to convenience-oriented online shoppers, who can quickly find desired products via a simple search tool. Headings highlight main categories, including groceries, clothing, banking, and even recipes.
• Visually-appealing fullscreen displays . Rather than distract website visitors with several separate visuals, Tesco’s website maintains a single, but decidedly bold display. This impactful background stretches across the entire screen and is layered behind text and customer prompts. The homepage, featuring fresh produce, has eye-catching graphics that reflect the commitment to quality that emerges in every Tesco case study
• Minimalist, but not dull . Minimalist displays dominate modern web design. Sometimes, however, white space feels excessive. Tesco strikes an ideal balance by keeping clutter to a minimum without relying on a bare-bones approach.
• Easy logo identification . Customers can always spot the Tesco logo in the upper left-hand corner, surrounded by just enough white space to ensure that it stands out.

What We Didn’t Like

• Customer testimonials . Reviews from happy customers may prove desirable in some contexts, but there is a time and a place. These particular testimonials take up the page’s most prominent space, which could be better served by showcasing exciting deals or products.
• Tabs that open into new pages . Ideally, when clicking on a link that appears to be a tab (such as the Delivery Saver tab), the new content should open in the same page, instead of loading an entirely new page.

Analyzing Tesco’s Category Page

• Sticky cart functionality . As shoppers browse the website and add items to their carts, they can keep track of these intended purchases on the right side of the screen. This intuitive design allows for a seamless Tesco checkout process , thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.
• Variety of filters . A wide array of filters are provided to allow customers to browse through products based on brands and categories. Furthermore, customers can customize their browsing according to specific dietary filters such as vegan or Halal. This plays into Tesco’s overarching emphasis on personalized shopping.
• Usually bought next . Situated at the bottom of each category page, this helpful section makes it easy to pair similar grocery items. This increases customer convenience while also helping to improve sales and final revenue on Tesco’s end.

What We Didn’t

• Difficult filter navigation . There’s a lot to be said for the variety of filters at customers’ disposal, but the actual process of navigating them can prove complicated, particularly compared to competitor websites.
• Navigating to different items within categories . Navigation can prove surprisingly difficult for those browsing various items within categories. The constant need to return to the homepage could quickly grate on otherwise amenable customers.
• Lack of search functionality within categories . Items cannot be sought via keywords within specific category pages. All searches must be completed using the main search bar on the top of each page. For many users, this may represent the website’s greatest weakness, as keyword category searches are an expected feature among competitors.

Analyzing Tesco’s Product Page

• Time-limited delivery notice . Produce delivery is inherently time-sensitive, as are several other services that Tesco provides via its website. The retailer harnesses the power of time-limited delivery notices to ensure that consumers use products when they’re freshest and most appealing.
• A wealth of product information . Product pages contain a wealth of relevant information, including everything consumers could possibly want to know about each item’s nutritional content, country of origin, and even preparation instructions.
• Customer reviews . Shoppers on the fence about a particular product can read customer reviews to get a better idea of whether they actually want to invest in said item. With a wealth of alternatives available, they can take solace in knowing that other options are always on hand.
• Nondescript Add to Cart button . Tesco’s approach for adding options to its carts may get the job done, but this could be an excellent opportunity for adding a bit of visual flair without detracting from the website’s minimalist approach.
• Too much text combined with too small product images . Many shoppers regularly purchase items without actually knowing their names. Rather, they focus on packaging. Tesco’s small pictures make it difficult for these shoppers to identify the elusive products they want. Some may end up with unexpected and unwelcome surprises upon delivery.
• Too much information . While it’s useful to know the origin of each item, including the exact address may seem like overkill to some users. This detailed information detracts from Tesco’s otherwise streamlined product pages.

Analyzing Tesco’s Checkout Process

• Numerous delivery slots are available . A variety of helpful slots for receiving grocery deliveries are provided on an hourly basis throughout the day. This dramatically improves customer convenience, particularly for those who work long hours and might not be available for the limited delivery times provided by some of Tesco’s key competitors.
• Automatic Click+Collect locations . Those who opt to collect deliveries at Tesco stores can look to this feature to automatically display a variety of nearby locations. This makes in-person delivery collection nearly as convenient as Tesco’s impressive delivery setup.
• Several Delivery plans are available . Shoppers who aren’t in a big hurry can elect to have their orders delivered mid-week for a reduced charge. Meanwhile, demanding customers are asked to pay extra for same-day delivery. Customers love options, particularly when they believe those options prompt significant savings.
• Oddly unavailable Click+Collect hours . Shoppers who plan their grocery pickup several days out will be surprised to find that some collection times up to a week out are unavailable. Hence, while Click+Collect provides exceptional functionality for last-minute pickups, it’s not always ideal for those who prefer to schedule in advance.

Eager to learn more about Tesco’s strategy and the technologic functionalities that make Tesco’s website so easy to use, we harnessed the power of BuiltWith to scan the website. A few of the notable technologies we spotted include:

• Omniture SiteCatalyst . Tesco’s web analytics are provided by Adobe’s Omniture SiteCatalyst — an expensive, complex system when compared to its main competition (Google Analytics). If set up correctly, however, Omniture SiteCatalyst provides excellent customer support.
• Hotjar . One of the world’s most famous screen recording and heatmaps tools, Hotjar offers a range of behavior analytic services ideal for businesses such as Tesco, which aim for a targeted approach based on actual customer behavior.
• Optimizely . This top experimentation platform plays significantly into modern web innovation. Despite its name, however, Optimizely may increase page load times throughout the Tesco site.
• OpinionLab . OpinionLab does an admirable job of collecting customer feedback on every aspect of Tesco’s webpage. This allows Tesco to customize better its web offerings based on actual customer opinions
• SendinBlue . User experience is a huge point of contention for SaaS provider Sendinblue. Clients regularly struggle with forms, automation, and APIs. ContactPigeon may prove a more customer-oriented alternative.

Some of these eCommerce tools are also used by John Lewis, UK’s homeware giant , so we do realize that these technologies play also an important part in a retailer’s business model and online success.

• As of 2019, Tesco boasted over 6,800 shops worldwide.
• Tesco currently employs over 450,000 employees around the world.
• Tesco had a 26.9 percent market share in the UK in 2019.
• Of the UK shoppers who primarily visit Aldi, 45 percent highlight Tesco as their main secondary store.

Breaking Tesco News:

• Tesco changes bonus rules after Ocado success hits pay – Read more here
• Coronavirus: The weekly shop is back in fashion, says Tesco boss – Read more here
• Tesco launches half price clothing sale – but some slam the company as ‘irresponsible’ – Read more here
• Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Aldi put restrictions on items amid stockpiling –  Read more here
• Tesco sells its Thai and Malaysian operations to CP Group.   Learn more here
• In September 2021 Tesco launched a zero-waste shopping service, providing customers with containers. – Learn more here.

When did Tesco begin?

Tesco technically began in 1919 but did not receive its current name until 1924. The company originally consisted of market stalls, with the first shop that might be recognizable to modern consumers not opening until 1931.

What made Tesco successful?

Tesco is popular in the UK and abroad due to its combined emphasis on quality, convenience, and affordability. The Clubcard plays a huge role in the retail chain’s continued popularity, as it keeps customers coming back for deals.  So why is Tesco so successful? It is because of its customer-centric approach, that it gradually helped Tesco to develop a very loyal customer base and equity and a very powerful multinational brand.

Who is Tesco’s owner?

Tesco is currently experiencing a shakeup in leadership. After serving as CEO for several years, Dave Lewis announced his resignation in 2019. He will be replaced by Ken Murphy in 2020. John Allan currently serves as the chain’s non-executive chairman.

What is Tesco industry sector?

Tesco PLC is a retail company. Its core business is grocery retail but they also are in retail banking and assurance industries as well, as part of their product diversification strategy.

How many stores Tesco has?

Tesco has 6993 stores in 12 countries

How profitable is Tesco?

Tesco’s revenue grew by +12% YoY in 2019 hitting  £63.91 billion.

Is Tesco in the public or private sector?

While Tesco was initially a privately-held company, it became a public limited company (PLC) in 1947 and has continued to operate under this approach. However, despite Tesco’s status as a PLC, it remains firmly part of the private sector.

Discover more resources about FMCG retailers

• Sainsbury’s Marketing Strategy: Becoming the Second-Largest Supermarket Chain in the UK
• ASDA’s marketing strategy: How the British supermarket chain reached the top
• The Marks and Spencer eCommerce Case Study: 3 Growth Lessons for Retailers
• The Ocado marketing strategy: How it reached the UK TOP50 retailers list
• ALDI’s marketing strategy: The key growth ingredients of the FMCG titan
• Walmart Marketing Strategy: Decoding the Success of the US Multinational Retailer
• Analyzing Lidl’s Marketing Strategy: How the Discount Supermarket Leader Scaled
• FMCG Marketing Strategies to Increase YOY Revenue

The Tesco Case Study: An overnight Success?

As our analysis showed, a variety of factors play into Tesco’s success. The retailer has a long history of using cutting-edge practices (like the virtual store mentioned above) to set itself apart from the competition. Much of its current success, however, relies on its perception as a convenient and affordable chain.

Tesco’s success is not a matter of luck. On its website and in its stores, the retailer emphasizes customer-oriented practices designed to make every shopping experience as seamless and as enjoyable as possible. This simple yet effective approach promises to keep the retailer at the forefront of the grocery industry in years to come.

If you’re looking to emulate the qualities evident in this Tesco case study, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Contact us today to book a free marketing automation consultation.

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TESCO – British Retailer that redefined Grocery Shopping

The first time I visited a ‘Tesco Extra’ store was at midnight, making an emergency run for next morning’s breakfast. The store seemed to occupy the area of an entire football field in Ashby-De-La-Zouch, UK. Even at an ungodly hour, Tesco was well-lit with visiting customers.

Inside, there were never-ending aisles lined up with groceries, food items, clothing, electronics, and whatnot. It was easy to lose way and lose track of time in the colossal supermarket.

I thought to myself that this would be the only store of its kind in the county, but I was wrong.

Tesco has 4008 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland , with 7005+ stores and franchises across the world. In Europe, Tesco has established itself in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey. In Asia it has stores in Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and China.

TESCO is much more than a chain of supermarkets selling a million products. It’s a giant conglomerate, spanning across so many verticals. It’s the equivalent of one of the FAANG companies but in the Grocery & Retail sector. It becomes imperative for business enthusiasts like you and me to understand the business model of this retail giant called Tesco.

It’s considered a part of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets alongside ASDA, Sainsbury’s, and Morrison’s in Europe.

The Birth of Supermarkets in Britain

Founded in 1919 by a war veteran – Jack Cohen , Tesco began as a grocery stall in the East End of London, making a profit of £1 on sales of £4 on day one. Tesco’s first store was launched in 1929, selling dry goods & its own brand of Tesco Tea. A hundred more Tesco stores were opened in the next 10 years.

With 100+ mom-and-pop stores in Britain, Jack wanted to expand his product range. He traveled to the US in 1946 and noticed the self-service system, where customers would select different products on the shop floor and finally checkout at a counter. Jack brought this concept back to Britain, giving birth to Tesco Supermarkets and changing the face of British Shopping. His motto was to “stack ‘em high, and sell ‘em low (cheap).”

Tesco has a wide range of supermarkets depending upon their size, range of products, and location. This also helps regulate their Supply Chain to reduce wastage.

Tesco Business Model is based on various verticals

Tesco has deep-rooted its businesses in the European market so well, it’s difficult to miss out on the Tesco hoarding anywhere. Its Businesses and subsidiaries are:

A glimpse into the Complex Supply Chain

A supply chain is one of the critical aspects of the business model of a giant retailer like Tesco. Tesco has its priorities set when it comes to procuring products from different parts of the world:

• Use expertise to offer a better range of products at reasonable prices
• Use economies of scale to buy more for less
• Leverage and maintain relations with global branded suppliers
• Grow the brand

It procures goods from over 44 countries, majorly China. A stock of up to 90,000 different products (30% are food & beverages) is transferred via the global sourcing office located in Hong Kong. Keeping wholesalers out of the loop, Tesco procures directly from suppliers. The conglomerate has developed and maintained long-lasting relations with suppliers’ world over—the main ones being General Mills, Kellogg, Mars, and Princes.

Tesco has set up a separate division to regulate its supply chain, “the machine behind the machine” – Tesco International Sourcing (TIS). It can be compared to the East India Company of the 18 th -19 th Century, catering to only one customer – Tesco.

TIS is connected to over 1000+ suppliers across 1200+ factories . It’s responsible for over 50,000 Tesco product lines in terms of quality control, sourcing, production, designing, timely delivery, and sorting trading/customs documentation.

All activities are coordinated centrally at TIS, with just 533 staff members. These staff members undergo rigorous training to detect & analyze Supplier-violations and conduct Auditing.

Tesco coordinates with TIS on a daily basis to procure products in the following ways:

• The local team uses customer insights to create a Product Brief (new or modified) specified for each region.
• TIS analyzes the product brief and develops a Product Sourcing Plan depending upon – stores that need this product and figuring out minimum transport time and cost, as per the region.
• The Plan is executed, and specific demands are handed out to Suppliers all over the world. Expert TIS Buyers make sure the best deal is made.
• Inbound logistics are consolidated at specific Tesco Depot to receive the product efficiently from Suppliers.
• Local teams then make sure the product is distributed to different Tesco stores from the Depots.

Tesco adding eCommerce to the mainstream business model

Being in the Top 50 retailers globally as of 2021 , Tesco’s annual revenue worldwide in 2020 was £58.09B , a 9.1% decline from 2019 (due to the Pandemic & disposing of its Asia operations , to focus on the core business in Europe).

It shifted from Brick & Mortar to Brick & Click stores. The Click+Collect functionality on its website accounts for 43% of E-grocery sales in the UK. The Click+Collect concept enables customers to place their orders online and collect their orders a few hours later at the nearest Tesco Depot. Tesco created these specialized Depots for online orders only.

Despite shutting down most its mall operations, Tesco survived 2020 through its online retail store Tesco.com , with double the orders. Its E-commerce net sales had shot up by 31% from 2019-2021.

A Global Operations & Technology Center in Bengaluru was also set up in 2004. This center serves as the backbone of distribution operations for Tesco worldwide. Its business functions are- Finance, Property, Distribution Operations, Customers & Product. The employees at this Center are Engineers, Analysts, Designers, and Architects.

Tesco’s Marketing Strategy

Tesco has always believed in acquiring loyal customers and regaining stakeholders’ trust. It aims to reach customers from all financial backgrounds. So it launched 2 of its own sub-brands – Tesco finest for the affluent customers and Tesco Everyday Value for the rest of the crowd.

Tesco also launched the Club Card in 1995 as a Membership card, to maintain customer loyalty and keep them coming back. The Card operates on a point-based system with discounts on products, & other subsidiaries like double data on Tesco Mobile. With 5 Million subscribers in the first year , Tesco finally overtook its competitor – Sainsbury’s to become No.1 in the UK.

The Club-card strategy was used to obtain customer data and observe buying habits. This data was analyzed, allowing Tesco to put the right products on shelves while eliminating unpopular ones. Tesco realized that the Club Card isn’t just a quick fix & temporary promotional tool; it’s a promotion in itself. This made the Tesco Club Card unique and long-lasting.

Tesco also realized that spending Billions on traditional marketing efforts and maintaining a ‘one-size-fits-all’ brand image wouldn’t work. It decided to hyper-target specific customers and to earn their trust. For starters, thousands of head-office staff and senior executives were sent to work in stores – to demonstrate how Tesco values its customer. Customization became key for its new marketing strategy; sending out discounts on birthdays via Emails and campaigning from door-to-door.

Tesco also made a partial shift to Digital Marketing which costs much lesser and has a wider outreach. It created well-tailored profiles on all social media platforms. On Twitter, it has more than 15 accounts, separate for each of its business units. The online customer care account on Twitter is active 24-7.

All supermarkets commonly advertised themselves to have quality products at a reasonable cost; Tesco wanted to differentiate itself as a unique brand. It introduced step-by-step Recipes prepared from ingredients available at any Tesco store, with Chef Jamie Oliver as its Health Ambassador . Tesco Food and its variety of recipes were a massive hit. Later on, the monthly Tesco Magazine as a food & lifestyle magazine was also launched, with 4.65Million readers worldwide.

The beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 left people apprehensive about visiting a physical store to buy groceries. To deal with customers’ concerns, Tesco came up with an instructional advertisement in April ‘20. With crisp instructions similar to that of an in-flight safety video, this ad showed customers how to physically shop and behave at Tesco stores. It was considered to be the most effective advertising and communications campaign of 2020 as per YouGov BrandIndex .

Competition

Tesco’s earliest competitor has been Sainsbury’s since the 70s. The Tesco Club Card strategy in 1995 helped it overtake Sainsbury’s to become the No.1 Retailer in the UK, but not for long. The ‘Big Four’ supermarkets in Europe have been in close competition throughout the years. Tesco has acquired a 28% majority stake in the UK market.

The horse meat and accounting scandals were a real setback for Tesco, letting competitors take over the European market. The newest German entrants – Aldi and Lidl had caught customers’ attention and market share in a short span of time.

With a combined market share of 12%, these German retailers posed a threat to Tesco. So much so that Tesco began the ‘ Aldi Price Match ’ campaign to curb the growth of the German discounter and win back customers. Tesco started price-matching thousands of its products with that of Aldi, offering better quality and branded products at Aldi’s prices.

Tesco has a majority market share in Britain, with Sainsbury’s and ASDA in tow:

Tesco Adding Sustainability to its business model – The Little Helps Plan

It’s a well-known fact that giant conglomerate retailers are one of the major causes of rapid climate change and increasing carbon footprints. Tesco realized its impact on the planet and launched the Little Helps Plan as a core part of business in 2017. This plan serves as a framework to attain long-term sustainability. Its four Pillars – People, Products, Planet, and Places are aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Until now, the Plan has enabled Tesco to:

• Permanently remove 1 Billion pieces of plastic from its packaging
• Redistribute 82% of unsold food, safe for human consumption
• Remove 52Billion unnecessary calories from foods sold

Apart from this, it also aims to increase sales of Plant-Based Meat alternatives by 300% by 2025. At present, it has 350 plant-based meat alternatives on the shelf.

Apart from partnering with various other organizations, Tesco entered a 4-year partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to address one of the biggest causes of wildlife loss – the global food system. It aims to eliminate deforestation from products, promote recyclable/compostable packaging and minimize food waste.

Tesco is one of the few successful retailers in the world, with a compelling history. Tesco has overcome numerous issues across its supply chain, faced global criticism, and still stands undeterred in the European market with its rock-solid business model. It has always adapted to its unpredictable consumers and continues to do so while caring for the planet.

The business is healthy. We said we would rebuild the relationship with the brand and consumers; you will see that in every measure of customer satisfaction we do that. The business is healthy, vibrant and there is a lot of optimism of what we can do going forward. CEO Dave Lewis, who took over Tesco in 2014 (during the struggle years) & stepped down in September 2020

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An Engineering grad, currently working in the fields of Big Data & Business Intelligence. Apart from being immersed in Tech, I love writing and exploring the business world with a focus on Strategy Consulting. An ardent reader of Sci-Fi, Mystery, and thriller novels. On my days off, I would spend time swimming, sketching, or planning my next trip to an unexplored location!

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How Tesco Became The Biggest Retailer In The UK

Table of contents.

There are certain brands that always seem to attract global attention and one of those is Tesco. It’s one of the largest grocery store chains in the world and over its 100-year history, it has gone through a rollercoaster of ups and downs that have brought it to where it is today.

• Stores: 4,673
• UK Employees: 336,392
• The top retailer in the UK
• Ranks 17th in NRF Top Global Retailers for 2021 
• Q1 2021 Growth in Online Sales: 22.2%
• FY21 Sales: £53.4 bn

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The Origin Story

The giant corporation that we know today had some very humble beginnings. The idea found its roots back in 1919 when Jack Cohen, the son of Polish immigrants, decided that he was going to sell groceries from a stall in East London [1] . For the first few years, that is all it was – a market stall run by a man with a big dream. But over time, as he gained confidence in what he was doing, he began to think that maybe he was destined for something bigger.

To dip his toe in the water, he opened up the very first Tesco store in 1929 in a small town in Middlesex. The brand took off almost immediately, much to the surprise of Cohen, and he realized that there was room for growth. He had stumbled onto a rather simple premise, in terms of providing food and drink in a very affordable and approachable way, and quickly started to work on expanding the concept as far and wide as he could.

Cohen’s unique personality and selling style was something that he engrained in those early sales teams, pushing them further than they ever thought they could go. He was someone who valued hard work above all else and believed that if you were out there working to make things happen, things would conspire for your benefit. This ethos is something that still lives in the company today.

In the years that followed, Tesco grew from strength to strength until it got to a stage in 1947 where it was large enough to list on the London Stock Exchange. In the two decades that followed the listing, the company continued to grow organically but it also made some aggressive acquisitions that rapidly increased the organization’s footprint. At the end of the 1960s, there were around 800 stores in operation, all maintaining healthy profitability and a growing customer base.

The strong brand was then leveraged to venture out of food and beverages specifically, and into a range of other areas including clothing, electronics, financial services, telecoms, media, internet services, and software. They also expanded geographically into the rest of the UK, Europe, and a brief but ultimately unsuccessful time in the USA.

The Tesco of today is a corporation much bigger than Cohen could have ever imagined, and that’s a testament to the company that he was able to build and the business philosophy that still undergirds their success to this day.

Creating Their Own Brands

We’ll start this strategy study properly by diving into what is widely considered the most important part of the Tesco strategy – which is the creation and scaling of their own in-house brands. When the company started they acted simply as a retailer, buying products from suppliers and then controlling the end-user buyer experience and distribution thereof. However, as they began to grow they came to the same realization that is so common for these massive product curators.

They realized that they could compete and win against these other brands because they had access to invaluable sales data, a loyal customer base who was tied into their stores, and the distribution required to bring their own brands to a mass market almost overnight. All of this while regaining a significant portion of the margin as they did so.

This is a key trend that we’ve seen across major retail conglomerates, but it’s received even more attention in the online era as Amazon has taken it to the next level. Especially in the case of common household goods where it is quite difficult to differentiate the product itself, brand and price become all that matters.

Tesco’s clothing line and their food brands provide high-quality items at prices that undercut the other 3 rd party brands that are trying to win shelf space in the stores. This makes it abundantly clear that by owning the customer relationship and the distribution, you have an immense amount of control in the value chain. Manufacturers are dependent on retailers like Tesco because they need to access the consumer market, and this places all the power in the hands of the retailer.

This business model has been incredibly successful over the past 50 years. Tesco has grown a substantial business that customers trust and whenever they want to win back margin, they can create their own white-label brand and use their pricing power to whittle away at the market share built up by other brands. The big question here though is how long will this last? [2]

In modern times we’ve seen a drastic shift away from brick-and-mortar retail and into online shopping. This was obviously accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was something that was coming inevitably anyway. As we move to a future of online shopping, Tesco’s early advantage in terms of distribution becomes less relevant. Manufacturers and suppliers can start to build online presences that give them direct access to the consumer market and thus they can eliminate the Tesco leg entirely, provided they have the brand strength to do so.

This is where the world is moving towards, where the middlemen are eliminated over time and we see a rise of direct-to-consumer brands. This is not to say that Tesco is going to disappear. In fact, their online shopping sales have been incredibly impressive. But they have to think differently about the company they are going to be as we shift into this new paradigm.

It’s definitely something on their roadmap and they are making a lot of investments in this vein, but it’s going to be challenging to transform such a large company with so much tied up in the brick-and-mortar of retail stores. Their ability to adapt and adjust will determine whether they remain a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

Key Takeaway

• If you control the direct relationship with the customer, you have tremendous power in the value chain that allows you to win market share and margins much more efficiently.

Horses for Courses

The next piece of the Tesco strategy that has proven so valuable for them has been their ability to adapt their value proposition for different contexts. When it comes to retail, you have to have a very good understanding of what your customers in that location are looking for, so that you can tailor your offering accordingly.

It’s tempting to think that you can copy-paste a winning formula wherever you want and scale quickly and easily – but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even with a simple concept like a grocery store, there is a range of different nuances that determine how the store should be set up, what should be stocked, and how they should craft the buying experience.

Tesco operates 5 different types of stores:

• Tesco Extra
• Tesco Superstores
• Tesco Metros
• Tesco Express
• One Stop Shop

Each of these stores has a different use case, and it targets a unique subset of their customer base. The company has worked very hard to identify the specific items, and setup that is best suited for each one. For example, the Tesco Extra stores and the Tesco Superstores are the biggest ones in terms of size and aim to carry as much as possible so that customers can do all their shopping in one place. This is in sharp contrast to the Tesco Metros and the Tesco Express stores which are focused on convenience and speed, rather than a variety of choices.

Every part of the experience for each category is intentional and fit for purpose. Even the training that the staff will go on differs depending on the type of store that they’re going to be working in. What remains consistent is the brand, the product quality, and the prices. Everything else varies according to what that particular customer is looking for.

It’s also interesting to note that these store categories have different trajectories and trends. If you look at the last couple of years (ignoring the pandemic), the big retail outlets have been struggling for growth, while the convenience stores are growing rapidly. This shows a clear trend in terms of consumer behavior and because the stores are all set up differently, the company can respond to these changes.

Essentially, each category of store can be thought about as a different company entirely – allowing lots of flexibility to adapt and adjust accordingly. If they didn’t have this clear separation, it would be difficult to understand the data they were receiving, and they would have less chance of successfully diagnosing the nature of changes in customer behavior.

Taking this one step further, it’s clear that their online shopping vertical is a new type of store and will have unique aspects that set it apart from the rest. As Tesco follows the growth of online shopping they’ll be able to shift their efforts to these new channels because they have the data that they need to be able to do this with confidence.

• Context is everything in business. By separating your operations into subsets that cater to different contexts, you’ll have the data you need to adjust and adapt to changing trends as they arrive.

Sustainability

A key component of Tesco’s forward-looking strategy is to become as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. This is not too out of the ordinary in the modern context as companies around the world work towards mitigating climate change, but Tesco has really gone above and beyond to make this a part of their company DNA.

The biggest offenders in their value chain are the delivery vans which are constantly transporting goods from suppliers to warehouses and then eventually to the stores themselves. These vans number in the thousands and they are running almost 24/7 ensuring that stock levels are where they need to be at all times.

Tesco announced recently that they have begun to transition all those vans to electric vehicles in an attempt to minimize the carbon footprint and work towards a more sustainable goal. Their plan is to have their entire delivery fleet transitioned to electric by 2028 which is a very ambitious plan indeed [3] .

This is but one of their sustainability initiatives that are at the forefront of the company they want to become in the future. They are working tirelessly to integrate this into their corporate ethos for a few reasons:

• Sustainability matters. We all have to be more thoughtful about what we’re building because the impact we’re having on our planet is significant. So, from pure self-interest, a company needs to embrace this value if they are to be robust and to last over the next hundred years. Without this focus, we might find ourselves in a very dangerous position in a generation or two’s time.
• Customers demand it. Building on the point above, there is tremendous social pressure for corporations to become more sustainable because of the heightened awareness we now have of the problems that face as a species. Customers are placing sustainability and environmental concerns as key factors in their purchasing decisions and Tesco knows that. So, they are leaning into this as a key value for the future so that they can continue to build the strong brand trust that they have with their existing consumer base.
• Prices are trending downward. As we shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, the relative prices will come down and that can have a significant impact on Tesco’s profitability. It might require a lot of investment in the short term, but that will pay off by orders of magnitude as the world shifts and economic incentives work their magic.
• Competitive Advantage. Getting in on this early and working to build this into the future of the company could prove to be a significant competitive advantage for competing against their competitors. This is a clear trend that everyone can see, so those companies that get ahead of the curve will be able to leverage the early momentum to capture more and more of the market going forward.
• Opens up opportunities for innovation. Whenever there is a radical shift in thinking, it creates an opportunity to go back to the first principles. For large companies, these moments are few and far between so it’s important to use these natural breakpoints to re-examine your strategy and plot the best path forward. Tesco is definitely trying to do that so that they can remain relevant as we move beyond pure retail and into a hybrid model where you need to serve customers in-person as well as online.

Those are just some of the reasons why Tesco is giving so much credence to how sustainable their operations are. It’s also important to note that they are thinking beyond their direct circle of influence. Another significant contributor to carbon emissions is their customers who drive to the stores themselves. To mitigate this, they’ve begun to roll out thousands of charging points to their larger retail stores to support customers with electric vehicles and encourage more people to move in this direction.

This is something we’ll see a lot more of going forward, and Tesco remains one of those leading the charge, at least in the European context.

• Sustainability is a key value and operational principle that must be at the forefront of any company looking to remain relevant going forward.

The Clubcard Loyalty Program

It seems that every company these days has some form of loyalty program where they try to reward repeat purchasers in exchange for valuable sales data – but Tesco was one of the first to go this route. Their Clubcard program allows regular shoppers to benefit from automatic discounts that are applied at check-out and it makes the already-low prices even more beneficial. This obviously creates loyalty for their key customers who will use the card to get better prices for their groceries, but the more interesting aspect is what it allows Tesco to do with the data.

Before loyalty programs, large retailers like Tesco were unable to tie specific purchases to specific customers. They would be able to access aggregated sales figures about the sorts of items that were being purchased, and they could use that information to adjust their offering accordingly, but you were limited in terms of how useful it could be. Any granular demographic data had to be assumed based on the store itself and this didn’t allow for much nuance.

The modern loyalty programs, like the one that Tesco runs, offer a much more sophisticated set of data that is incredibly valuable for product development, planning, and demand forecasting. By tying each purchase to a specific customer’s card, Tesco gains a range of new insights into purchasing behavior and they can arrive at a much more granular understanding of what is actually happening in their stores.

Here are some of the ways that they can use this data:

• Demographic Analysis. Tesco can identify specific segments of their customer base and analyze purchasing habits in these unique categories. For example, they can compare their male base to their female base. They can look at how age affects the sorts of items that are purchased. They can look at ethnicity and how that impacts the brands that are most in-demand. All of these slices help to break a massive consumer base into smaller segments that can be more effectively sold into. This affects the marketing messaging, the placement of goods in the store, the outbound sales efforts, and much more.
• Lifetime Value Analysis. When you’re able to track specific customers over time, you gain a lot of insight as to how they engage with your brand and how that plays out over time. Through a more nuanced calculation of a customer’s lifetime value, it informs how they invest time and resources going forward – to maximize this value and build a strong core of loyal shoppers. This is also vital in the other direction when looking for red flags that might point to something that is going wrong along the way. When you can track this effectively, you’re in a much better position to make long-term strategic decisions that are data-driven and attached to the real-time data on the ground.
• Shopping Cart Make-Up . If we move up one level of abstraction, we can analyze the make-up of a customer’s shopping cart to understand the relative associations of different items in the store. When Tesco tracks this over time and matches it to key demographic information, they can start to understand the different use cases and common groups of items that are purchased – allowing them to adjust their offering and store placement accordingly.
• Track the performance of marketing campaigns . When Tesco undertakes various marketing initiatives, it can be difficult to track how well they perform in terms of driving sales in various target markets. The Clubcard loyalty program gives them the data that they need to do this effectively, allowing the company to track whether the marketing message is working with their target audience or if things need to be changed. Once they’ve found a winning formula, they can quickly scale that out across the rest of their stores with a lot more confidence that their investment is going to pay dividends.

Those are just some of the ways that Tesco uses this data to inform their business decisions but hopefully, it gives you a sense of why it’s such an important part of their strategy. The data alone is much more valuable than the discounts that they offer in exchange, making it one of the most impactful revenue generation mechanisms that the company has at its disposal.

• Granular customer data is worth its weight in gold and anything you can do to gather and process it effectively, should be a priority for your organization.

The Price Match Guarantee

The world of grocery stores is incredibly competitive and unless you have a specific niche focus, there is going to be a lot of competition around price. In 2014, Tesco was going through a difficult period and found itself losing ground to some up-and-coming chains that were doing anything they could to undercut Tesco’s prices and win customers away from the incumbent. Tesco realized that they couldn’t afford this to happen for very long and so they came up with what they call the ‘Brand Guarantee Scheme’ to try and mitigate against this trend.

The idea was that if a customer got to the check-out and their basket of ten or more branded items was more expensive than what could be found at a rival store, customers would receive the difference as a discount when they paid. These prices were independently verified on a daily basis and gave customers the confidence that there were no better deals out there.

This simple psychology was enough to retain the vast majority of their regular customers and removed the one major objection that might convince someone to switch to another brand. It didn’t matter whether the amount was large or small, it provided peace of mind that when you bought at Tesco, you were getting the best deal that there was.

What makes this more interesting though is that this wasn’t the first time they had tried to implement a price match system to enable this sort of deal. Previously, they would go through the same process of matching prices but instead of giving the discount right away, they would offer a gift voucher to the value of the difference between the Tesco price and what it cost at another store.

It wasn’t until they listened to customer feedback and heard that many shoppers never got to use those benefits because they forgot about the vouchers, did they realize that they needed to remove the friction entirely [4] . Creating vouchers just added another step into the process that actually was a point of potential error. And even though it was completely within the customers’ control, the impression was that they were losing out.

When the company took that away and chose to implement the discount immediately as they paid, this completely disappeared and customers found the process quite magical. They didn’t have to do anything, yet they knew that if there were savings to be had, Tesco would make sure that they got them.

Achieving this took a lot of technological investment and considerable expense to do the requisite daily market research, but it made the purchasing experience a delight and that’s what keeps customers coming back time and time again. It sends a signal to customers that you’re looking out for them and will do whatever it takes to make their grocery shopping a breeze. To this day, the Tesco Brand Guarantee is one of those components that is severely underrated in terms of the company’s success up to this point.

• The more friction you can remove from the customer journey, the more magical the experience becomes, and the more likely customers are to return.

Aggressive Acquisitions

Another key strategy that typifies who Tesco has been as a company has been its track record of large international acquisitions which looked somewhat impulsive in retrospect. They bought a wide range of different brands in countries like Poland, Japan, India, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and more [5] . In each case, they were hoping to grab a piece of the local market and then apply their technology, data, and operational know-how to rapidly scale the operations.

In most cases, they left the brand as is rather than applying the Tesco name to it, giving them diversification but also underplaying the role that they would play in those specific regions. If you look at their growth over the past few decades, a lot of it can be attributed to these deals – though it’s difficult to know exactly how much value was added in the process. Once each acquisition was absorbed under the umbrella, there are just too many variables to make an educated statement on the overall success rate.

What cannot be denied is that this was a very intentional strategy on their part. By taking the financial power that they had built up in the UK, they were able to go into new markets and take risks on brands, knowing that any losses would be subsidized by the market-leading position back home. This might not be the most efficient way to grow, but it does give you scale and speed when certain acquisitions do provide the value you were expecting.

There is lots of debate about the pros and cons of a strategy like this, but Tesco have stuck with it for their entire history and this land-grab mentality rings true today. It’s only possible when you have a significant war chest and an existing set of operations that can sustain the shocks that come with potential market failures, especially when you are moving as fast as they do.

In the next section, we’ll look at an example of where things went wrong and see what we can learn from it.

Aggressive acquisitions should only be considered when you have a large war chest and you can manage the downside risks as they present themselves.

The Failed US Expansion

Tesco hasn’t always got it right and we can often learn as much from the failures as we can from the success stories. Back in 2006, the company decided that they wanted to enter the United States and try to replicate some of the success they had found in the UK. The strategy was to open a chain of small-format grocery stores in a few states in the West of the USA, specifically Arizona, California, and Nevada. These stores wouldn’t carry the Tesco name but instead were branded as ‘Fresh and Easy’.

In the first five months they opened 60 stores, they had 150 by the end of the first year, and over the next 6 years, they expanded to have over 200 at their peak. However, they found it much more difficult to get a foothold in the market than they had originally anticipated.

It’s not entirely clear as to why the stores failed but it’s likely due to a combination of these factors [6] :

• Unfamiliar Shopping Experience. The Fresh and Easy concept was to mimic the small convenience stores from the UK – offering people a shop where you should shop daily for the food and drinks that you needed. This was a stark contrast to the typical American shopping experience which was to purchase groceries in bulk and shop much more infrequently as a result. This difference in culture meant that they could never really get the traction they wanted, and it didn’t seem to fit the buying patterns of American consumers.
• Economic Recession. The timing of this expansion was really unfortunate because it happened in the middle of the worst economic crisis that the USA (and the world) had seen for a long time. As the sub-prime mortgage crisis took hold, unemployment soared, and the purchasing power of the middle class was significantly harmed. This effect was further concentrated in these Western states and so there was a disproportionate impact on the overall demand. This was not something Tesco could have predicted or planned for, but it’s a good reminder that you don’t operate in a silo. You’re reliant on economic conditions around you to sustain whatever operations you’re involved in.
• Misaligned Product Offerings. The one common criticism that the roll-out faced was that the store focused too much on ready-to-go, microwaveable meals – something that was very popular in the UK but had less buy-in across the USA. When it came to convenience food, the US market was much more comfortable with fast-food outlets and that meant that the demand for the Fresh and Easy offering wasn’t as strong as it could have been.

As always, these reasons are purely anecdotal and it’s not entirely clear what role they played, but the key learnings were that you need to deeply understand the psychology and the buying behavior of a new target market before you enter it. If you don’t, you place the entire project at risk and this can have drastic consequences financially as well as from a reputational perspective.

Tesco had reportedly lost around $2bn when they decided to pull out of the country in 2013 and they’ve never gone back. They continue to focus on the UK market which they know very well and select other European and Asian customer bases which provide some diversification.

• When you’re entering a new market, it’s critical that you understand the nuances and psychology of the customers in that new segment. Without this, you might miss the mark and suffer significant financial damages.

Tesco remains one of the most well-known grocery store brands worldwide and their ability to combine retail dominance, strong logistics capabilities, and sophisticated use of customer data is what will be the foundation that they build their future on.

They face many challenges in the year to come as more and more customers shop directly from brands, but the company is well aware of that and is doing all that they can to pivot the company effectively for this modern paradigm shift. In this strategy study, we’ve aimed to highlight some of the key areas that they’re focusing on with the hope that you can learn from them and apply them to your own context.

As a quick refresh, here are those main takeaways from the Tesco story:

• Aggressive acquisitions should only be considered when you have a large war chest, and you can manage the downside risks as they present themselves.

Remember to take the necessary time to understand the customer context, leverage the power of data, and invest in sustainability so that you can remain relevant for decades to come.

In-Depth Marketing Strategy of Tesco – Case Study with SWOT Analysis

By Aditya Shastri

Introduction.

Tesco, a multinational retail company by adopting a customer-focused approach and employing effective marketing strategies has helped them to become a leading player in the supermarket industry industry. The brand focuses on providing its customers with the best possible value for money, by providing a diverse range of products at competitive prices that make it easy for customers to find what they are looking for.

In this case study, we shall discuss how Tesco achieved this feat by looking at its latest news, competitors, marketing strategies, and online retail presence.

About the Company

Tesco is a retail company headquartered in England. The company has 7,000 stores worldwide, employs over 500,000 people and serves tens of millions of customers each and every week. Its core business is grocery retail but the company has also diversified into the retail banking and assurance industries. For the purpose of this blog, we shall only be focusing on Tesco’s retail business. Tesco’s stores stock over 40,000 different products. Their procurement teams work with tens of thousands of different raw materials that are transported internationally every day.

How did a company setting up market stalls transformed into a global retail mammoth? To get a sense of their business and operations and the marketing strategy of Tesco let us first take a look at their marketing mix.

 What’s new with Tesco?

• Tesco Media and Insight Platform have entered into a partnership with Pintrest. This will enable the leading CPG brands to leverage the power of Tesco’s Clubcard data to deliver personalized and relevant ads.
• Tesco has announced that it will be running home deliveries with 500 electric vans for the company’s Sheffield Extra store. This makes it the first in Yorkshire that have a fully electric fleet.
• Tesco Ireland plans to invest €80 million this year in 8 new stores, upgrade projects for 50 years, and maintenance expenses.
• Tesco customers will notice a major change post-announcement made by Tesco to introduce a major shift of milk caps in supermarkets.
• Tesco is introducing a new in-store campaign where they will recycle broken plastic toys into books and reading resources for UK schools.

Tesco’s Buyer Persona

Buyer’s Persona

Profession:

Software Engineer

• Convenience & efficiency in grocery shopping.
• Quality products at affordable prices.
• Interested in saving money
• Wants to maintain a healthy lifestyle

Interest & Hobbies

• Cooking new recipes.
• Home organization & meal planning.
• Finding deals & discounts.
• Exploring Food Trends..

Pain Points

• Limited time due to busy work.
• Difficulty in making choices amidst numerous options.
• Concerns about product freshness & quality.
• Uncertainty about navigating promotions, offers & loyalty programs.

Social Media Presence

• Follows lot of food & lifestyle influencer
• Engages with discount & coupons
• Joins local community group for food recommendations

Marketing Mix of Tesco

A marketing mix is an important tool for determining how a product is marketed or can be marketed in the future. The marketing mix consists of the 4 P’s of marketing: Price, Product, Promotion, and Place. Let us now analyse Tesco’s marketing mix.

Tesco’s Product Strategy

Tesco has majorly expanded since its inception and now provides a wide range of products in categories including food, electronics, health, books, apparel, home and decor, party and gifting, sports and fitness equipment, beauty, jewellery, baby products, etc. It’s quite clear that Tesco caters to various needs of consumers from across segments and is a retail giant. Tesco has its own brands for these categories, namely Tesco Loves Baby, Tesco Lotus, Tesco Kipa, F&F Clothing, Tesco Value, etc. Tesco’s wide range of products and own brands are supported by a strong digital marketing strategy . By using digital marketing effectively, brands can reach a wider audience, build brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales, improve customer service, and understand their target audience.

Tesco’s Pricing Strategy

The Tesco pricing strategy adopts an efficient supply chain network that allows them to take advantage of the economies of scale and offer products at the lowest possible prices. Tesco does not compromise on quality for the sake of price. They regularly entertain feedback from consumers and try to cut down on irrelevant costs to provide low prices. Tesco, thus, follows the cost leadership strategy.

Did you know? 🧐 – Brands can use digital marketing to promote their products and offers through marketing channels such as social media , email marketing , and search engine advertising . This can help them to attract new customers and encourage existing customers to buy more.

Tesco’s Place and Distribution Strategy

Tesco has 6,900+ stores in 15+ countries including the UK, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, France, Japan, etc. Tesco has various types of stores offering varying products and services. Namely, Tesco Metro, Tesco Express, Tesco Extra and Tesco Superstore.

Tesco superstores are large supermarkets that sell groceries and a range of non-food items. Tesco Metros are smaller stores situated in towns and city centres. Tesco Express is an even smaller store that essentially deals in high-margin products. Products at Tesco Express are costlier than the other Tesco stores.

Tesco Extra are large stores that carry a wide range of items including groceries and general merchandise, allowing customers to complete all their routine shopping under one roof.

Tesco also has an online store for customers who wish to transact online and get their groceries and other products delivered. To expand its distribution network it has also partnered with many retailers and delivery companies including Amazon which offers delivery of groceries through Amazon Fresh.

Tesco’s Promotional Strategy

Tesco focuses on attracting customers through its signature low prices strategy. Tesco makes extensive use of print and media advertising as a tested channel to send promotional messages to current and potential consumers. As of today, Tesco maintains a balance between its traditional marketing and digital marketing campaigns. The company hugely relies on promotional offers to attract and retain customers. They regularly provide ‘buy one get one’ offers and discounts, online as well as in their stores.

Must Read: 10 Major Digital Marketing vs Traditional Marketing Differences in 2024

For loyal customers, Tesco has an option of availing club cards. The Clubcard loyalty program is a key part of its marketing strategy. The program rewards customers for their loyalty with discounts, points, and other benefits.

Tesco launched a campaign called Better Baskets, which aims to address the challenges that customers face when trying to make healthier choices while shopping. According to research conducted among Tesco customers, 86% of them expressed a desire to eat more healthily, and 77% of them want Tesco’s assistance in achieving this goal.

This is how Tesco manages to maintain its position as a market leader with affordable products while ensuring accessibility and quality. This is also visible in their marketing strategy, let’s take a deeper look at that.

Marketing Strategy of Tesco

Tesco’s marketing strategy accurately targets its ideal consumers with the help of its well-positioned brand image. Marketing strategy of Tesco is formulated based on the following:

Customer Segmentation: Based on the diverse needs and preferences of their customers, Tesco can put customers into different segments. Different marketing messages can be crafted to meet the needs of those segments.

Loyalty Program: Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty program is the most popular in the UK by offering personalized discounts, rewards, and special offers to encourage repeat purchases from customers. This program has 19 million members, which generates a revenue of billion pounds for Tesco each year.

Marketing through Multiple Channels: Tesco uses a combination of traditional and digital marketing channels such as TV, radio, emails, social media, etc., as well as in-store promotions to reach a wider customer base.

Value for Money: Tesco has always positioned an image in the minds of its customers for offering good value for money. This is reflected in the form of providing high-quality products at affordable prices.

Private Label Brands: Tesco has a range of private-label brands that sell a variety of products at a price that is lower than other national brands. These private-label brands are preferred by customers who want a good deal for the products purchased.

Retail Multinational Learning: A Case Study of Tesco

• January 2005
• International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 33(1)

• Queen's University Belfast

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9.38 tesco plc.

Though still still essentially UK-based, Tesco has diversified geographically and into widely-separated market sectors: retailing books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol and software, financial services, telecom and Internet services, DVD rental, and music downloads.{10}

Competition

Tesco is an aggressive company benefiting from Internet technologies, as indeed are its main UK rivals. {9} Sainsbury's and Morrisons cater for more affluent customers, and Asda focuses on the more cost-conscious. Market share as of 2008 was: Tesco 30.5%, Asda 16.9%, Sainsbury's 16.3, and Morrisons 12.3%.{10} A cost breakdown is given below. {9}

Tesco has built its fortune on two business elements: an unrelenting drive to provide value to customers, and continued investment in the latest technologies — today customer relationship management, Internet and mobile phone shopping, and supply chain management (probably a private industrial network, though details are not available).

Back in 1995, however, Tesco was losing market share, causing Terry Leahy, the new CMO, to reexamine its market position and propose a three-pronged solution: {11}

1. Stop copying Sainsbury's and develop its own strategy. 2. Listen to customers throughout the company, at every level. 3. Offer goods and services as the customer valued, not what Tesco could do (i.e. adopt an outside-in strategy).

Customer Relationship Management

Tesco went to extraordinary lengths to understand its customers and add value to their lives.

1. Marketing was aimed at sensible, middle-class families, from its slogan 'Every little helps' to its no-frills website. {11} {14} 2. A loyalty card ('Clubcard') was introduced in 1995, and data subsequently fed into Customer Management Systems. {10} 3. American preferences were studied by embedding staff with US families prior to launching its USA operation in 2007. {11}

Internet Technology

Tesco has been particularly forward-looking. It was one of the first to: {10}

Outlook: Pestel Analysis

A Pestel analysis identifies the forces with most impact on Tesco performance.{9}

Tesco benefited from access to the world's most profitable market of 1.3 billion people, notably by:

1. Britains' joining the European Union, and the inclusion of 10 more countries in 2004. 2. China's entry into the WTO.

The continuing recession has made supermarket customers:

1. More cautious and cost-conscious. 2. More inclined to eat in that go out to restaurants.

As the UK's population changes (especially ages), customers:

1. Tend to eat (and therefore buy) less food. 2. Have become more health conscious, met by Tesco's increased stocking of organic foods. 3. Have been retained by Tesco loyalty programs.

Technological

Tesco were early leaders in Internet shopping, supply chain management and customer relationship management. These continue to be vital today with:

1. Customer loyalty cards and Internet shopping records providing CRM information. 2. Growth of Internet use and broadband access fueling growth in Tesco online shopping. 3. Mobile phone shopping, introduced with Cortexica Vision Systems for Tesco Wines, etc. 4. Supply chain management: rumored to be the world's best, still being extended. {4}

Environmental

Tesco has responded to Government environmental initiatives by:

1. Encouraging reuse of plastic bags. 2. Rewarding bagless deliveries with Tesco's green Clubcard points. 3. Providing practical advice of environmental issues. 4. Adding carbon footprint data to its products.

1. European VAT increases will affect nonfood sectors like clothing. 2. Increase in the UK's minimum wage will increase Tesco operating costs.

Outlook: Swot Analysis

The SWOT {9} analysis regards the UK concentration of business as a weakness, though this is a market Tesco knows well, and which saw further expansion in 2011. {13}

Outlook: Value Chain Analysis

As defined by Lynch (2006), {19} the value chain is the value added at each link in a company's key activities. For Tesco, the values are: {9}

1. Use of leading market position and economies of scale to achieve low costs from its suppliers. 2. Constant upgrading of their ordering system, approved vendor lists, and in-store processes.

Operations Management: 30%

Sources and Further Reading

Technology and Operations Management

Mba student perspectives.

• Assignments
• Assignment: Digitization Challenge

Tesco: A digital transformation

Tesco is the leading grocer in the UK, accounting for 25% of all grocery sales offline and 43% of all grocery sales online [1]. In the last 15 years, Tesco has digitally transformed their customer experience, business model and operating model through investments in a state-of-the-art website with click-and-collect functionality, a digitalized in-store experience and a data-driven customer loyalty platform.

How is Tesco using technology to differentiate their Business and Operating Model?

Tesco has continually been investing in technology to develop an omnichannel customer experience and to maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly digitized UK grocery landscape. Three technological advancements that have created opportunities, as well as some challenges, for Tesco have been:

• Moving from ‘bricks and mortar’ to ‘bricks and clicks’ with the emergence of Tesco Direct, an online grocery platform with ‘click-and-collect’ functionality

In the early 2000s, the UK was prime for online grocery shopping and home delivery due to high technology adoption rates and areas of high population density. In 2000, Tesco was quick to respond to this opportunity, adapting their business model by establishing an online grocery channel, ‘Tesco Direct’ (Exhibit 1) [2]. By 2006, online sales were rapidly growing (CAGR of 23%) and in order to meet fulfilment demands, Tesco augmented their operating model by investing in ‘grocery dotcom centres’ [3], warehouses solely for online order fulfilment purposes equipped with innovative ‘goods to person’ picking technology (Exhibit 2) [4]. In 2011, to offer further convenience to customers and to improve business model profitability through lowering home delivery costs, Tesco led the competitive pack by offering an omnichannel ‘click and collect’ function, whereby customers placed orders online and collected bagged groceries at a collection point of their choice. Despite revenue upside, the shift to a ‘bricks and clicks’ omnichannel offering came with challenges for Tesco’s operating model: heavy investment in development of an online platform, investment in ‘grocery dotcom centres’ (approximately £1.5-3.5M per warehouse) [5], investment in a home delivery labour force and supply chain ordering difficulties due to inaccurate forecasting of online grocery orders given a lack of historical data.

Exhibit 1: Tesco Direct online website [2]

Pathways to Just Digital Future

Exhibit 2: State of the art goods-to-person picking technology [6]

• Implementation of a digitalized in-store experience

To improve the efficiency of Tesco’s operating model, Tesco invested in digital in-store initiatives. ‘Scan as you shop’ handheld devices (Exhibit 3) and self-check-out stations (Exhibit 4) were placed adjacent to the usual employee manned check-out stations to provide customers with the technology to perform the check-out function without involvement from Tesco employees [7]. From a business and operating model perspective, this results in efficiency cost savings as fewer employees are required to perform manual check-out [7]. However, self-checkout has not come without challenges – the lack of employee supervision has led to significant levels of fraud for Tesco (approximately ~£8M per year) [8]. Tesco is combating this thievery through digital receipt technology and specialized cameras at self-checkout stations to alert staff real-time to ‘irregular’ customer scanning activity [8].

Exhibit 3: Scan as you shop handheld device [9]

Exhibit 4: Self Service Checkout [10]

In addition, in-store video cameras, such as the ‘broccoli cam’ (Exhibit 5), detect when fruit and vegetable trays in the fresh foods aisles are depleted, sending instant messages to the shop-floor employees for immediate replenishment [7]. Electronic shelf-edge labels (Exhibit 6) circumvent the need for Tesco employees to change 5-10 million paper labels monthly, freeing up valuable employee time to focus on serving customers [7, 11]. Moreover, electronic shelf-edge labels allow for instantaneous price-changes throughout a given day, allowing Tesco to implement promotional prices at a moment’s notice. Finally, employees are equipped with portable smart badges which, upon scanning an item, provide employees with information on stock levels and further product details, allowing shop floor employees to answer customer queries live [7].

Exhibit 6: Electronic shelf edge labels [7]

• Development of Tesco Clubcard – a sophisticated data-driven customer loyalty scheme

The Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme tags a unique customer ID to every purchase, resulting in the amalgamation of millions of customer purchasing data points [13]. Tesco leverages big data analytics and algorithms to adapt the supply chain and product offering to purchasing trends, predict future customer purchasing habits and generate personalized online and offline discounts [14]. This has created opportunities for Tesco’s business and operating model as approximately 16.5 million customers subscribe to Clubcard in the UK, driving greater customer lifetime value and loyalty through repeat purchases due to personalized discounts and allowing greater accuracy into forecasting customer demand by region and product category [5]. What additional steps Tesco should consider implementing?

Moving forward, Tesco needs to leverage smartphone technology to digitally innovate the in-store customer experience by equipping customers with knowledge and personalization in-store. For example, the existing Tesco App could be expanded provide a functionality to help customers locate specific items within superstores and to replace the ‘scan as you shop’ handheld devices for a seamless digital experience using digital wallets. This could create an operating model opportunity by further decreasing in-store headcount and costs. Finally, Tesco could overcome the difficulties users face scanning barcodes in self-checkout machines by utilizing innovative Toshiba technology which no longer requires barcodes [15].

[766 words excluding exhibits]

References:

[1] Planet Retail, www1.planetretail.net/, accessed November 2016

[2] Tesco Direct website, http://www.tesco.com/groceries/ , accessed November 2016

[3] ‘Tesco goes into the darkness’, Retail Gazette, http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2014/01/42030-tesco-goes-into-the-darkness , accessed November 2016 [4] ‘Insight supermarkets dark stores’, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2014/jan/07/inside-supermarkets-dark-stores-online-shopping , accessed November 2016 [5] Tesco annual report, https://www.tescoplc.com/media/264194/annual-report-2016.pdf , accessed November 2016

[6] Tesco ‘goods to person’ picking image,   http://www.expo21xx.com/material_handling/13440_st3_conveyor_elevator/default.htm , accessed November 2016~ [7] In-store innovation at Tesco, Tesco PLC presentation by CIO Mike McNamara, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noa4SmYhjTA , accessed November 2016 [8] ‘Tesco trials digital receipts and self scanner tech that aims to reduce theft; Marketing Week, https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/10/21/tesco-trials-digital-receipts-and-self-scanner-tech-that-aims-to-reduce-theft/ , accessed November 2016 [9] Tesco scan as you shop image, http://www.tesco.com/scan-as-you-shop/i/diagram.png , accessed November 2016

[10] Tesco self-check out image, https://www.engadget.com/2015/07/30/tesco-automated-checkout-voice/ , accessed November 2016

[11] ‘Tesco is back’, Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinomarah/2016/04/14/tesco-is-back/#5839eaca1c64 , accessed November 2016

[13] ‘Clubcard built the Tesco of today but it could be time to ditch it’, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10577685/Clubcard-built-the-Tesco-of-today-but-it-could-be-time-to-ditch-it.html , accessed November 2016 [14] ‘Tesco: how one supermarket came to dominate’, BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23988795 , accessed November 2016 [15] ‘New Toshiba supermarket scanner does away with need for bar codes’, Digital Trends, http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/new-toshiba-supermarket-scanner-does-away-with-need-for-bar-codes/ , accessed November 2016

Student comments on Tesco: A digital transformation

I completely agree with the idea of Tesco using technology to enhance the customer’s experience in the store. I also think that Tesco’s biggest advantage is the vast trove of data it is now collecting on shoppers through its mobile app and loyalty program. There are benefits to both the brand and consumer of Tesco having this data.

On the consumer side, Tesco can use this to enhance the customer experience, as you mentioned above. For example, since Tesco knows what a shopper has purchased, and how frequently, on average, either that shopper or similar shoppers replace a specific item, Tesco could use this to remind shoppers to buy something that they may be running low on. They can also use this to delight shoppers by suggest recipes using things they’ve purchased or offering savings on things they might want to try. They will need to handle this carefully as to not venture into “creepy” territory.

On the brand side, Tesco can unite the data from the POS and mobile device to understand which products a shopper was considering, but did not ultimately purchase. This information is extremely valuable to brands and can help them target shoppers in a way that maximizes their spend.

Thanks for a great post! It’s interesting to see how advanced Tesco is compared to US grocery retailers, especially with its online delivery platform. I think the biggest advantage for Tesco here is the data they have been able to collect with its loyalty program. I agree with Katherine that the next step is creating personalized communication at the customer level to enhance the customer experience and increase traffic in stores. My concern here is Tesco’s ability to retain strong margins. Grocery retailers already face low margins, and I’m curious to know how these investments have impacted its performance.

Wow – this is so interesting. I had no idea that Tesco was doing so much…I especially love the Broccoli cam!

One concern I have is how whether consumers actually value all these additional digital applications. A Harvard Business Review article from 2014 (“Tesco’s Downfall is a Warning to Data-Driven Retailers” [1]) discussed Tesco’s declining performance despite all the investments they had recently made in digital technology and data analysis. They quoted a Telegraph article which said “…judging by correspondence from Telegraph readers and disillusioned shoppers, one of the reasons that consumers are turning to [discounters] Aldi and Lidl is that they feel they are simple and free of gimmicks. Shoppers are questioning whether loyalty cards, such as Clubcard, are more helpful to the supermarket than they are to the shopper.”

As a consumer I would agree…although the products discussed above sound interesting…how much do value do they really provide for myself as a shopper?

[1] https://hbr.org/2014/10/tescos-downfall-is-a-warning-to-data-driven-retailers

Great read CC! It’s amazing to know that a 100-year-old retailer such as Tesco has been investing capital and innovating to stay competitive in the digital age. I loved the simple yet far-reaching functionalities of the innovations you mentioned, especially ‘the broccoli cam’ and the electronic shelf labels.

It is well known that Clubcard was pivotal in establishing Tesco as a dominant player in UK [1] but it might be time to update the way it works. With the advent of smartphones, most consumers have their loyalty programs on their phones, with easy real time access to their benefits and rewards. Customers are also happier

Tesco also has a huge potential in updating its supply chain through digital initiatives. More and more firms are relying on technologies such as Sensors & geolocation, robotics, big data and cloud services to gain supply chain efficiencies and cost savings. [2] Things are clearly working in Tesco’s favor as they enjoy fastest growth in three years as Aldi and Lidl slow [3]. Hope they realize the huge potential that digitization has to offer and keep evolving

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10577685/Clubcard-built-the-Tesco-of-today-but-it-could-be-time-to-ditch-it.html

[2] https://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/6500433/Digital+Supply+Chains.pdf/a12fffe7-a022-4ab3-a37c-b4fb986088f0

[3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/15/tesco-enjoys-fastest-growth-in-three-years-as-aldi-and-lidl-slow/

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, retail multinational learning: a case study of tesco.

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management

ISSN : 0959-0552

Article publication date: 1 January 2005

This article examines the internationalisation of Tesco and extracts the salient lessons learned from this process.

Design/methodology/approach

This research draws on a dataset of 62 in‐depth interviews with key executives, sell‐ and buy‐side analysts and corporate advisers at the leading investment banks in the City of London to detail the experiences of Tesco's European expansion.

The case study of Tesco illuminates a number of different dimensions of the company's international experience. It offers some new insights into learning in international distribution environments such as the idea that learning is facilitated by uncertainty or “shocks” in the international retail marketplace; the size of the domestic market may inhibit change and so disable international learning; and learning is not necessarily facilitated by step‐by‐step incremental approaches to expansion.

Research limitations/implications

The paper explores learning from a rather broad perspective, although it is hoped that these parameters can be used to raise a new set of more detailed priorities for future research on international retail learning. It is also recognised that the data gathered for this case study focus on Tesco's European operations.

Practical implications

This paper raises a number of interesting issues such as whether the extremities of the business may be a more appropriate place for management to experiment and test new retail innovations, and the extent to which retailers take self‐reflection seriously.

Originality/value

The paper applies a new theoretical learning perspective to capture the variety of experiences during the internationalisation process, thus addressing a major gap in our understanding of the whole internationalisation process.

• International business
• Multinational companies

Palmer, M. (2005), "Retail multinational learning: a case study of Tesco", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management , Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 23-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550510577110

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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How Tesco virtually created a new market on a country's lifestyle

Executive Summary

South Koreans have amongst the longest working hours in the world, with young, upwardly mobile executives often too busy to go shopping for grocery at a traditional store. The UK's giant retailer, Tesco, sought to turn this disadvantage to its benefit. It introduced "virtual stores", which are essentially a display of products on walls of metro stations and bus stops. Commuters, especially the tech-savvy, ultra-busy lot, could scan the QR codes of the products on display with their smartphones, and place their orders even as they waited for their trains or buses. This case study looks at how Tesco "virtually" created a new market based on a country's lifestyle.

In 2011, when domestic sales of the UK's retail giant Tesco slumped, it fell back on its second-largest market, Asia, which accounted for 30 per cent of its total profit. Tesco's success in Asia, and specifically in South Korea - currently its largest market outside the UK - is based on its ability to adapt to the local consumer.

Tesco's expansion into Asia has been an important focus for the company since the late 1990s. Following its acquisition of Thailand's Lotus in May 1998, the company announced a 142-million investment in South Korea in March 1999 by partnering with Samsung to develop hypermarkets. Through its tie-up with Samsung, Tesco made a localisation effort to adapt its Homeplus stores to the local consumer.

The latest example of this localisation was the launch in 2011 of its first virtual store, located in a Seoul subway station, an idea based on the observation that the typical Seoul commuter did not have the time to shop at her nearest brick-and-mortar Homeplus store.

The Virtual Store

The virtual stores are set up in public spaces, most often in subways and bus stops with high foot traffic and frequented daily by tech-savvy commuters. This is how such stores work:

- Interested customers download the Homeplus app into their smartphones.

- They then use their smartphones to scan the QR codes of the products they want to purchase. The posters in the virtual stores are designed to resemble the actual aisles and shelves of a regular Tesco store, making the experience very user-friendly.

- The scanned products are stored in the customers' online shopping basket, who pay online once their order is completed. Homeplus reported that the majority of the orders are placed at 10 am and 4 pm, when people are commuting to and from work.

- Customers schedule a time for home delivery. Same-day delivery is the norm, so that customers can get their products by the time they get back home from work.

The virtual store has been a huge success with commuters and drove over 900,000 app downloads in less than one year, making the Homeplus app the most popular shopping app in South Korea. Online sales increased 130 per cent since the introduction of the virtual stores and registered app users increased by 76 per cent. In February 2012, Tesco Homeplus announced it was extending the virtual store concept to 20 new locations across the country. Today, there are 22 Homeplus virtual stores in South Korea, and the brand is the country's No. 1 online retailer.

Understanding the Consumer

South Korea, a country of around 50 million people, is the fourth-largest economy in Asia and the 12th largest in the world. Compared to other Asian countries, South Koreans generally have higher levels of education, higher average household income, and better living standards. Over the past few decades, the country has built itself up with its largest resource - people - and has achieved rapid economic growth through exports of manufactured goods. It is now a major producer of automobiles, electronics, steel and high-technology products such as digital monitors, mobile phones, and semiconductors.

Over the past decade, South Korea has advanced tremendously and has been shaped by constant innovation, technology and westernisation. In today's world, shopping habits and behaviour of South Korean consumers are impacted by several key factors.

Extensive use of technology/connectivity: According to a report by McKinsey & Co., South Korea is one of the most advanced countries in terms of broadband penetration, and has more than 10 million smartphone users. In other words, one in five South Koreans use a smartphone. Additionally, according to Nielsen, households in South Korea are making six per cent fewer shopping trips. When they do shop for products, an increasing number of South Koreans go online.

Long working hours/busy lifestyle: Although the average annual hours worked per person in South Korea is declining, the country still comes out top among OECD countries with 2,193 hours. This is perhaps unsurprising, as the work ethic and lifestyle of South Koreans get shaped at a young age. According to the BBC, South Korean parents spend thousands of pounds a year on after-school tuition on an industrial scale. There are just under 100,000 hagwons or private academies in South Korea and around three-quarters of Korean children attend them.

Travel time on public transportation: South Koreans spend a significant amount of time on public transportation, predominantly between home and work. What has helped is that public transportation is reliable and inexpensive, and is the fastest and most efficient way to get around.

The introduction of Tesco's virtual stores in subways made use of time spent by commuters waiting for public transportation, allowing buyers to use the little time they have available for grocery shopping. Not only did this change the way buyers shopped, it also increased the potential market for Tesco. These buyers may not have otherwise had time to go grocery shopping between their personal and professional lives, opting to buy take-out instead.

All of this implies that grocery customers in South Korea are more time-poor and less price-sensitive. They value convenience and technology to accommodate their busy lifestyle.

Tesco's Value Proposition

Customer segmentation: When you enter a new market/geography, companies need to understand and analyse consumer behaviour trends, including shopping habits and purchasing behaviour, to identify who the valued customers are and how they behave.

Adaptation of value proposition: If the needs, attitudes and lifestyle of the company's "value customer" are different in the new market/geography, the company needs to adapt its value proposition and value network across the entire supply chain.

Power of technology in traditional industries: Technology has a disruptive power in traditional industries, such as retailing. In this case, the predominance of smartphones in Korea allowed Tesco to boost its revenues through an innovative approach.

Innovative marketing: The way marketing can be used innovatively to target captured audiences (such as commuters waiting for the next train in a station).

Brand Extension: One option that Tesco Homeplus may have considered in order to take advantage of is to create a new brand for the virtual stores that would have remained independent from the Homeplus brand and, therefore, limited the risk to the Homeplus brand by increasing prices.

EXPERT VIEW

RETAILERS STRUGGLING TO DEVELOP COMPETENCIES TO SUCCEED GLOBALLY

Despite the popularity of globalisation in retailing, most retailers are still struggling to develop competencies to succeed in global markets. To what extent should the "original" format and merchandise be adapted is a major issue. Walmart learnt this the hard way when its initial entry into China had the wrong merchandise. On the other hand, Mexican customers were disappointed when they did not find enough imported US merchandise in the Walmart stores. Toys R Us has learnt that there are differences in consumption patterns. The Japanese demand electronic toys, other Asian consumers demand educational toys, Europeans favour traditional toys, while American kids prefer television- and movie-endorsed toys.

The Tesco case in South Korea demonstrates that despite the company's many problems, it has been a leader in developing multichannel solutions. With consumers preferring the convenience and selection of e-commerce, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are challenged to address how to serve this customer profitably. The home-delivery option is much valued by consumers but cannot be as profitable as the traditional store. Therein lies the dilemma.

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Tesco: From Troubles to Turnaround – Case Solution

Tesco PLC is one of the largest retailers located in the U.K. Over the years, the company has been through challenges, ups, and downs. This case study analysis focuses on Tesco’s past performance, future strategy, and its implications. It seeks to look into the areas the company should focus on in order to bolster the company's future financial performance.

​Anupam Mehta; Utkarsh Goyal; Sanchit Taneja Harvard Business Review ( W17163-PDF-ENG ) March 13, 2017

Case questions answered:

What course of action would enable Lewis to improve Tesco’s value for shareholders? What area(s) should be focused on in order to bolster the company’s financial performance?

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Tesco: From Troubles to Turnaround Case Answers

This case solution includes an Excel file with calculations.

Tesco: From Troubles to Turnaround

Tesco, one of the largest U.K.-based retailers, has been through its ups and downs during the last six years. This memo aims to analyze the company’s past performance, future strategy, and its implications.

Over the last six years, Tesco has improved its liquidity position. The current ratio increased from 0.68 in 2011 to 0.75 in 2016. This increase can be attributed to an increase in cash and cash equivalent, and a simultaneous decrease in accounts payable over the last six years. However, the current ratio and quick ratio are below the standard, i.e., 01.

Moving on, the company also improved its collection cycle. Inventory turnover and accounts receivable turnover increased while, on the other hand, average days of payables outstanding decreased. If one looks at the debt ratio, it increased from 0.65 in 2011 to 0.80 in 2016. This can be attributed to the company’s expansion in the U.K. and internationally.

On the other hand, the interest coverage ratio declined from 11.44% to 1.21%, which can be the result of declining operating profit over the years.

Furthermore, Tesco’s profitability ratios declined over the past six years. The profitability ratios exhibited an upward trend in 2012 as compared to 2011, but since 2013, the profitability has declined until 2015.

One of the main reasons behind this decline could be the slowdown of the U.K. economy, projecting a decline in retail sales by 0.2% every year until 2020. Although the company experienced a decline in profit from 2011-2014, it never experienced a loss.

Shockingly, in 2015, Tesco posted a loss of ￡6.38 billion, which could be largely attributed to the loss of customer trust due to financial scandals in 2014.

In 2015-16, the company’s CEO focused on cost management, thus reducing the cost of goods sold and operating costs, enabling the company to achieve an operating profit of ￡1.05 billion in 2015-16.

As per DuPont’s system of analysis, total asset turnover decreased slightly from 2011 to 2016, and the financial leverage ratio increased from 2.85 in 2011 to 5.09 in 2016, but the net profit margin decreased considerably from 4.38% to 0.4% in 2016. In other words, a decrease in net profit margin is the main reason behind Tesco’s declining financial health.

Tesco’s revenue decreased by 2.2% from ￡60,931 million in 2011 to ￡54,433 million in 2016. In order to increase the company’s revenue, the company should improve its sales in international stores because of two reasons.

Firstly, in 2016, the company earned about 19.1% of its total revenue from international sales, which means that there is potential to grow internationally.

Secondly, due to the slowdown of the U.K.’s economy, Tesco’s retail sales are projected to decrease each year by about 0.2%, acting as a natural barrier to sales growth in the U.K. One way of improving sales in international stores is by…

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TESCO CASE STUDY

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jaya krishnan

This essay analyses and evaluates critically Tesco's current operations management. The essay discusses from 3 major perspectives namely, operations strategy, operations design and operations management. Firstly, it will show an introduction. The second section will analyze Tesco's formats and international expansion at corporate strategy level. And then, based on the customer-centric conception, it will discuss the low price policy, cost control, loyalty card strategy, supply chain management, delivery system management and inventory management at the business unit strategy level and functional strategy level. Following this, it will make a comprehensive conclusion and show the strengths and weakness of Tesco' operations management. Finally, the article will give some appropriate recommendations to Tesco's sustainable development.

Augustus N . Muli

The essay attempts to carry out a strategic financial evaluation and analysis of two companies: TESCO and Benedict Co. Tesco is a leading UK shopping mart in the business of investing and selling quality products (UKEssays, 2018, Tesco 2019) through their stores and online with a strong focus on working with various stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, etc.,. (Tesco 2019)). The essay will define the term “stakeholder” and identify Tesco’s three key stakeholders. Further, using Tesco’s annual report 2016, a review of the company’s financial performance in terms of corporate and social responsibilities against its environmental, social and corporate governance report will be carried out. The report will also attempt to evaluate and analyze the financial position of Benedict Co. which is a provider of superior salvage solutions. The Company buys and sells damaged or abandoned freight and other items. (Benedict Co. 2019). The report will calculate, interpret and analyze a range of financial ratios to measure the company’s financial performance. Finally, a summary of the findings and recommendations will be drawn.

Lean main highlight is to remove any wastage and add value to each of its level of operations or practices. It was originally aimed to maximize its functions or values for the end-of the products and eliminate any activities that does not add any values. Some researchers even argued that the Toyota Production System's primary aim was to meet customer satisfaction and service level rather than merely cutting costs (Zokaei, Hines, & Peter, 2007). Similarly, Tesco's core purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty. In lean manufacturing, the companies often finding ways to reduce these 3Ms which are Muda, Mura and Muri. Waste is also called as 'muda' in Japanese which is the one TESCO has been focusing on. Muda is then categorised into 7 main types which comprises of defects, waiting, extra motion, excess inventory, overproduction , extra processing, and unnecessary transportation. The eight waste, unutilized skills or talent was often added to them too. In addition, mura is known as unevenness in production while muri defined as overburden of people or the equipment (Lean Manufacturing, 2016). Lean practices have been adopted by many companies as well as Tesco's competitors to cut costs and serve customers' demands and needs. As tesco practiced lean, its obvious result was the increased in net profits which is 16, 452 millions in 1998 to 37, 070 millions in 2005. This is mainly because of the innovation made towards its supply chain operations such as continued replenishment based on the checkout counters, primary distribution, cross dock distribution and the use of single vehicle to serve several stores. As a result, Tesco has improved in terms of (1) better relationship with customers (CRM) and suppliers, (2) efficient use of transportation assets, (3) reduced inventory costs, (4) lower lead time and (5) reduced replenishment time in-store. Without any doubt, applying lean practices enable Tesco to have (1) better relationship with both, customers (CRM) and suppliers. Tesco wants to improve their availability of products by reducing the time for products replenishment. Customers would surely be annoyed as they find their wanted products are not in the shelf as the promotions held. As example in United Kingdom, as the sales density are higher, the shelves which are fully stocked in morning needs to be replenished again in noon and oftenly. This is when the availability of products is the main focus between customers and retailers that influence Tesco to come up with an idea of e-procurement programme. It is also known as The Tesco Information Exchange programme (TIE). This TIE programme links all Tesco stores with the suppliers, including the farmers. Thus, if there is any high demand for the fresh products, the information goes directly to the farmers. In another perspective, if Tesco able to satisfy the cutomers' needs, this would lead to customer loyalty which are not easy to gain. As of the suppliers, they will be at ease since the products are being taken good care of with the development of RFID technology or radio bar codes back in 2003. This technology does not just promote faster supply chain but also prevent the products from being stolen. Any products that are not yet paid will get to be identified at the exit scanners. Suppliers can also get the information of products needed from the stores accurately which synchronize its orders and deliveries time. There is also an influenced of Just-in-time (JIT) implementation to this benefit. Just-in-time in retail, specifically Tesco has been applied with the technology as its surfaces to let retailer and supplier know the demand of customers. Indirectly, it can be obtained through checkout counters or scanners. JIT also famously known as providing what customers need just the amount needed, at the right place and the right time.

leigh sparks

The business transformation of Tesco in the last 25 or so years is one of the more remarkable stories in British retailing. From being essentially a comparatively small'pile it high, sell it cheap'downmarket retailer, the company has become one of Europe's leading retail businesses, with retail operations in countries as far-flung as Ireland, Poland, Malaysia and Japan.

Sixbert SANGWA, Ph.D.

This report comprises of two main parts whose objectives are to respectively analyze the key Tesco stakeholders and the financial position of Benedict Co. in the first part the author will use Tesco annual report 2016 to identify and analyze its key stakeholders who are customers, suppliers and employees, focusing on how the company’s environmental and social review and the corporate governance report help Tesco demonstrate its performance in terms of its corporate and social responsibilities to two of its stakeholders. Although there are many other stakeholders that are affected by corporate decisions or serve as link between financial and non-financial objectives, the report concluded that these two stakeholders play a very significant role in helping the company measure the performance of both of its financial and non-financial objectives. On the other hand, Benedict Co.’s financial position has been evaluated using a number of financial statements/ratios. In this regard, the report has demonstrated a very weak profitability which increases the company’s liabilities and eventually put a strain on its liquidity

Almoatazbillah Hassan

Gareth-Stuart Ogg

Aldi Stores Ltd. is a budget supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the USA. This report covers the overall connection between Aldi Stores Ltd.’s success and their strategic decision making. Their use of Porters five forces and emergent strategies allows them to stand out from the competition. Diving into an industry which was already dominated by a small selection of supermarket Aldi Stores Ltd. managed to expand and increase their market share using their strategic decision making. Aldi Stores Ltd. does have shortcomings where their competitors have the upper hand however with some recommendation to their current strategies they will be able to overcome these and increase their market share and become the threat for the competition.

John Anchor

Fredrick Mwau

UZOECHI NWAGBARA

Abstract The central issues here are the consequences and the impacts of the announcement of the resignation of Sir Terry Leahy, the CEO of Tesco, from the organisation in March 2011. The announcement on the 8 th of June 2010 that Leahy, Tesco's chief executive officer and one of Britain's most respected businessmen, would be retiring after transforming the organisation into the world's third biggest retailer, has generated a groundswell of reactions.

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Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

• Entering the US, Tesco deserves credit for creating a neighborhood market approach—emphasizing fresh produce and meats, and good quality but value-priced prepared meals.
• By not partnering or hiring local executives, Tesco missed the opportunity to learn more about the habits and needs of target customers.
• Tesco rightly aimed to scale the concept as soon as possible so that fixed overhead investments in its own distribution centers could be spread across a larger number of stores.
• Perhaps Tesco's original rollout plan was too ambitious, with executives assuming that the company would get everything right on the first try.
• Tesco has listened to its customers, learned from its mistakes, and made appropriate midcourse corrections.

Tesco PLC is the third-largest retailer in the world, just behind Wal-Mart and Carrefour. But that didn't make the UK-based chain immune from many costly mistakes as it entered the US market in 2006.

For example, it opened some of its Fresh & Easy stores on the wrong side of the road, eliminated discount coupons, and decorated in a spare style more suited to a hospital than a food retailer. Five years later, Fresh & Easy has not made a dime, and analysts are wondering whether the company should pack up and go home, as so many other British retailers have done before it.

Tesco's story makes ideal Harvard Business School case material for teaching everything from multinational strategy to on-the-ground logistics. Marketing professor John A. Quelch recently introduced Tesco PLC: Fresh & Easy in the United States , developed from public sources.

Sean Silverthorne: Each country poses its own obstacles for multinationals entering new geographies. Your recent case on Tesco highlights challenges faced by companies coming to do business in the United States. Tell us about the initial strategy to conquer the United States with Fresh & Easy stores.

John Quelch: The United States is an unusually competitive and cluttered market. It is tough to succeed without a clear and sustainable point of differentiation. While successful grocery retailers are expanding internationally, the odds are long. Both Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer of the United Kingdom have withdrawn from the United States. Wal-Mart tripped up badly in Germany.

Tesco's international forays have hitherto been successful—with the possible exception of Japan. Tesco intelligently elected to concentrate on fast-growing, emerging economies in Eastern and Central Europe and in southeast Asia. Its modus operandi has been to joint venture with a local retailer, acquiring good store locations and local management talent in the process.

Tesco deserves credit for not taking a "me-too" approach in its US strategy. Tesco entered the California, Arizona, and Nevada markets with a new retail concept: a neighborhood market emphasizing fresh produce and meats, and good quality but value-priced prepared meals. Averaging 4,000 items in assortment, its Fresh & Easy stores aimed to be distinctive on those two attributes: fresh and easy, conveniently located stores with a conveniently preselected assortment.

Q: The company did a serious amount of homework before entering the United States, including sending 50 British executives to live with California families. But it seems the advance team didn't learn all that it should, such as the notion that designing stark stores with concrete floors wouldn't necessarily appeal to American tastes. What can other companies that are thinking of moving into the United States learn about Tesco's early fact gathering and strategy development?

A: I suspect that Tesco had a view on what would work before sending its executives to live with those California families. The result was perhaps a bias toward gaining evidence in support of a predetermined strategy.

California is a car culture. Most households undertake a weekly shopping expedition, supplemented with stock-up purchases at convenience stores. A small neighborhood market's success depends on enough consumers changing behavior to buy a higher proportion of their groceries on a more frequent basis. This could work in inner-city locations where younger shoppers might buy their evening meal on the way home each day, but it is less likely to work in the suburbs.

In addition, the Fresh & Easy assortment carried around 50 percent private- label products, rather than more familiar national brands. And finally, fresh produce was prepacked rather than loose on the shelves. While this can actually improve freshness, consumers perceive the opposite.

Q: Tesco decided initially to fill its US management ranks mostly with British expats instead of hiring locally. How did that strategy work for them? What can we all learn?

A: Tesco established Fresh & Easy as a greenfield investment rather than acquiring or joint venturing with a US retailer as its starting point. Therefore, Tesco did not have immediate access to local retail savvy, not just in store design and assortment but also in the critical area of store locations.

Many Fresh & Easy stores are refits of preexisting retail stores that were up for sale; at least some of these stores were on the wrong side of the road, more easily accessible to inbound rather than outbound commuters who would more likely be thinking about what to buy for dinner. Foreign managers, transplanted from the UK, might not readily have these kinds of insights. And as a greenfield newcomer, Tesco would not necessarily attract California retailing's best and brightest talent as it would assuredly do in the UK.

Q: As sales remained under plan, Tesco execs halted development of new stores temporarily and made adjustments to those stores already open, such as shifting product mix, allowing some coupon discounting, and expanding hours. Do you have advice for companies about revisiting original assumptions? Do companies new to the American market have to do this reassessment more frequently or look for different things?

A: Tesco has not been afraid to listen to its customers, learn from its mistakes, and make appropriate midcourse corrections.

The assortment was expanded by 600 items; stores that were originally stark and unwelcoming—to project a value price feel—were painted in pastel colors; and more signage was added. Weekly price specials were increased to build store traffic.

Perhaps Tesco's original rollout plan was too ambitious. It assumed that Tesco would get everything right on the first try. On the other hand, Tesco rightly aimed to scale the concept as soon as possible so that fixed overhead investments in its own distribution centers could be spread across a larger number of stores.

Q: What issues do students have to answer as they make their way through the Tesco case?

A: There are two questions that students must wrestle with.

First, are Tesco's problems in the United States a result of poor strategy or poor execution? The latter problem is obviously more correctable. On the other hand, Tesco has lost time; competitors have responded to its initiatives by incorporating some of Tesco's approaches in their own merchandising and assortment selections.

The second question is how long the Tesco board will permit management to hemorrhage losses in the United States. Originally, Tesco announced a five-year plan to profitability that would come due in 2011.

Q: The case ends with Tesco in the fourth year of its five-year plan, with largely disappointing results. We heard the news recently that Philip Clarke has authorized a new expansion program through at least 2013, when it finally expects Fresh & Easy to become profitable. Correct decision?

A: Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco's highly successful CEO for more than a decade, recently announced that he would step down in favor of Philip Clarke, a long-standing Tesco insider. Speculation that this might result in the the company abandoning the Fresh & Easy experiment no doubt prompted the recent announcement that Fresh & Easy would be given a two-year reprieve until 2013.

Tesco has the resources to continue, and the US market's size remains a juicy target if Tesco can get it right.

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Case Study: Tesco

Tesco, a leading UK supermarket, has been utilizing product analytics to revolutionize its operations and customer experience . By leveraging big data, Tesco addresses numerous challenges , such as stock optimization, customer targeting, and even waste reduction.

Background: Tesco and the Retail Industry

Tesco, founded in 1919, has grown from a single market stall in East London to one of the world’s largest retailers. With operations in multiple countries and thousands of stores, Tesco serves millions of customers every week. However, like all retailers, Tesco faces significant challenges such as fluctuating consumer preferences, managing a vast inventory, and intense competition.

The retail industry is notoriously dynamic, with trends and consumer behaviors constantly shifting. To remain competitive, companies must be agile, adapting to these changes quickly. This is where product analytics becomes invaluable, allowing businesses like Tesco to respond to market demands with precision.

What is Product Analytics?

Product analytics involves collecting and analyzing data related to a company’s products. This data can include sales figures, customer feedback , inventory levels, and online behavior. By leveraging product analytics, retailers can gain insights into their products’ performance , identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their operations.

Key metrics in product analytics include:

• Sales Data : Understanding which products are selling and which are not.
• Customer Behavior : Analyzing how customers interact with online and in-store products.
• Inventory Turnover : Monitoring how quickly products move from shelves to customers.
• Pricing Trends : Identifying the best pricing strategies to maximize revenue.

The Case Study: Tesco’s Use of Product Analytics

The Problem

Tesco faced a challenge that was familiar to many retailers: managing inventory for perishable goods. With a vast array of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products, Tesco needed to ensure they were stocked efficiently to meet customer demand without wasting excessively.

Data Collection

To tackle this challenge, Tesco leveraged its extensive data collection systems, which included point-of-sale (POS) data, customer loyalty program insights, and online shopping behavior. These data sources gave Tesco a comprehensive view of customer preferences and purchasing habits.

Analytical Tools

Tesco utilized advanced analytical tools, including predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms, to process and analyze the vast amounts of data collected. These tools allowed Tesco to forecast demand accurately, optimize product placement, and adjust inventory levels in real time.

Implementation: Turning Data into Actionable Insights

Data Analysis

Tesco’s data analysis revealed that certain perishable items, such as fresh produce, had inconsistent demand patterns that varied by store location and time of year. By analyzing these patterns, Tesco identified opportunities to optimize inventory levels, reduce waste, and ensure that customers always found fresh products on the shelves.

Actionable Insights

One actionable insight was the realization that product placement significantly impacted sales. Tesco discovered that placing high-demand perishables at the front of the store increased their visibility and, consequently, their sales. Additionally, by adjusting the inventory levels based on real-time data, Tesco reduced waste by 20% in specific product categories.

Real-world Example

For instance, in one of its regional stores, Tesco noticed a surge in demand for organic produce during summer. By preemptively adjusting inventory levels and enhancing the display of these products, Tesco not only met the increased demand but also minimized stockouts, leading to a 15% increase in sales for that category.

Outcomes: The Impact on Tesco’s Business

Key Results

The implementation of product analytics had a profound impact on Tesco’s operations. The company saw a significant reduction in waste, particularly in its fresh produce category. This improved Tesco’s sustainability efforts and led to cost savings. Moreover, the optimized inventory levels ensured customers had access to fresh products, enhancing customer satisfaction .

Long-term Benefits

Beyond the immediate improvements, Tesco’s use of product analytics has provided long-term benefits. The ability to forecast demand with greater accuracy has led to more efficient supply chain management, reduced operational costs, and improved profit margins. Additionally, by continuously refining its product offerings based on data-driven insights, Tesco has strengthened customer loyalty and maintained its competitive edge in the retail market.

Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Challenges Faced

While Tesco’s journey with product analytics has been largely successful, it was not without challenges. One major obstacle was integrating disparate data sources into a cohesive analytics platform. Ensuring data accuracy and consistency across all systems required significant investment in technology and training.

Best Practices

For retailers looking to emulate Tesco’s success, several best practices can be gleaned:

• Invest in Technology : Robust analytics tools are essential for processing large volumes of data and generating actionable insights.
• Focus on Data Quality : Ensure all data sources are accurate and integrated into a single platform to avoid discrepancies.
• Test and Iterate : Continuously test new strategies based on analytics insights and refine them as needed to maximize impact.

Scalability

These practices are not limited to large retailers like Tesco. Smaller businesses can also benefit from product analytics by starting with more straightforward tools and gradually scaling their analytics capabilities as they grow.

Tesco’s use of product analytics is a compelling case study for how data-driven insights can revolutionize retail strategy . By effectively managing inventory, optimizing product placement, and reducing waste, Tesco has improved its bottom line and enhanced the customer experience. As the retail landscape continues to evolve, those who harness the power of product analytics will be best positioned to thrive in this competitive industry.

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Home » Management Case Studies » Case Study: Tesco’s US Grocery Market Entry

Case Study: Tesco’s US Grocery Market Entry

Tesco is currently the UK’s most successful supermarket with a UK market share in excess of 30% and annual profits of some £2bn. It is the world’s fourth largest retailer. The company has developed internationally over the past 10 years particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Far East. International expansion is a key element of Tesco’s strategic development particularly as opportunities for further expansion in the UK become increasingly limited.

In February 2006 Tesco announced that it was planning to enter the US retail grocery market. Tesco planned to invest around $400m ( £220m) per annum, over a five year period, in its US venture. This was estimated to be sufficient to pay for between 100 and 150 stores in the first year of operation. Tesco undertook detailed market research including visiting shoppers at home to see what they bought and asking people to keep a food diary to observe what they consumed. A mock store was built in a warehouse on an industrial estate to help develop the model for the US market. This had to be kept secret to avoid competitors obtaining knowledge of Tesco’s plans and the stock for the mock store was purchased in the eastern states of America and shipped to California. The proposed market entry caused a great deal of interest in the USA where Tesco was expected to raise a serious competitive challenge to existing food retailers including Trader Joe’s, 7-Eleven, Kroger, Safeway, and Wal-Mart. Tesco thought that 7-Eleven with more than 5000 stores nationwide and Trader Joe’s (owned by the German company Aldi) with some 300 branches would be their major competitors. Tesco believed that its strategic format would enable it to undercut its main competitors prices, with the exception of Wal-Mart, by between 10% to 25%

Tesco decided not to open large supermarket style outlets but opted instead to introduce a chain of low cost convenience stores similar to those operated in the UK under the ‘Tesco Express’ brand. The aim was to provide a classless retailer capable of operating in both upmarket and deprived areas with Tesco planning to open stores in so-called ‘food deserts’ (urban areas which had been abandoned by the major US supermarkets). However, there is a key difference between convenience stores in the USA and the UK. In the US convenience stores are associated with gas (petrol) stations whereas in the UK they are essentially self standing.

Tesco planned to introduce the British model into the USA believing that this would provide an element of competitive advantage in a highly competitive market where small food retail outlets are relatively unknown. It was agreed that the first stores would be located on the West Coast of the USA in California, Arizona and Nevada. Unlike their other international operations it was decided not to use the Tesco brand name. The stores were to be named ‘Fresh & Easy’ and referred to as Neighbourhood Markets. If the initial stores proved successful then a move into other areas of the west coast of the USA would take place.

The first ‘Fresh & Easy’ store was opened on 8 November 2007 in the town of Hemet east of Los Angeles with a further four opening in Las Vegas on 14 November. The company planned to open a further 100 outlets in the following 12 months. By mid – July 2008, 71 ‘Fresh & Easy’ outlets were in business. The format of the new stores came as something of a surprise to American consumers. The muted green branded stores are bright and clean with a bias towards fresh and organic foods much of which is pre-packed, a relatively unusual feature in the USA. Around half of the products are ‘Fresh & Easy’ ‘own brands’ including high ‘value-added’ ready meals. This, again, is unusual in America where brands dominate the food retail scene. First perceptions by some customers at the Hemet store were that prices were relatively high and that people were ‘looking’ rather than ‘buying’. In addition there are no in-store checkout staff and customers are required to scan the bar codes on their purchases before paying. This means that many of the products on sale have to be packaged to carry a barcode which somewhat undermines the company’s environmental claims.

In February 2008 ‘Fresh & Easy’ announced that it was moving into northern California with plans to open 19 stores in and around Sacramento. However, at the same time Piper Jaffray, a major US broker, suggested that ‘Fresh & Easy’ was not performing as well as Tesco had expected. This was denied by chief executive Tim Mason who has been quoted as saying ‘We are very pleased with the performance of all of our stores. Every single week brings more good news as sales, customer numbers and repeat visits are all growing.’ In March 2008 reports were emerging that ‘Fresh & Easy’ was performing badly with one commentator saying that sales targets were being missed by up to 70% as a result of very weak ‘footfall’1. Tesco responded by saying that the claims were untrue and that they were bewildered by the report. However, at the end of March 2008 Tesco announced that it was ‘freezing’ the ‘Fresh& Easy’ store opening programme for three months to allow the business to ‘settle down’. The store opening programme was expected to resume at the beginning of July 2008 and this did, indeed, happen. However, the expansion plan has slowed and by 2009 the company will have opened around 60% of its original target.

However, Tesco continued to experience problems because of the financial and economic crisis which hit the USA in mid-2007 and which has seen consumer expenditure fall dramatically in some parts of the country. Three of the States (California, Arizona and Nevada) in which Tesco established ‘Fresh & Easy’ have been the most seriously affected by the economic crisis and this has created fresh problems for the company. In January 2009, to counter these problems, a range of 98cent products and $1 special offers were launched along with ‘$6 off’ coupons for customers who spent more than $30 in a single visit. The company has claimed that the 98c packs increased sales by 11%. This is a competitive strategy which may work in the current economic climate and some analysts have argued that ‘Fresh & Easy’ may benefit as shoppers trade down to lower priced stores. Some analysts continue to argue that Tesco’s attempt to enter the US market has been a failure and that the company should withdraw. Piper Jaffray has estimated that if Tesco were to withdraw from the US venture it will have cost the company £1bn.

Tesco’s expansion into the USA has not been without its critics. The company’s environmental claims have come under scrutiny, along with its property strategy, its non-unionization policy in a relatively strongly unionized sector of business and its refusal to sign a community benefits agreement. Community benefits agreements are used by stores in the USA to gain customer loyalty. Tesco, in turn, has countered these criticisms. Tesco’s Annual Review Statement for 2008 contained the following comment on its American venture, ‘The early responses of customers to our offer has surpassed our expectations with our research regularly confirming that they like the quality and freshness of our ranges, as well as the prices and convenient location of the stores’.

Other major British companies, including Marks and Spencer, Boots the Chemist and Sainsbury’s, which have attempted to enter this highly competitive market have failed largely because they have not understood the psyche of the American consumer. It was this which motivated Tesco to undertake its huge market research programme prior to launching in California. However, Tim Mason recently admitted that the research on which the market entry was based might have been flawed.

Will Tesco succeed where others have failed?

1. Why do you think that Tesco decided to expand into the highly competitive US market when almost all of its previous international activity had been either in the transformation economies of Eastern and Central Europe or the emerging economies of the Far East?

2. Why do you think Tesco decided to use the brand name ‘Fresh & Easy’ for its US stores when the Tesco brand has been used for all its other international activities?

3. Why do you think that Tesco will not achieve its original target for store openings by 2010?

4. How do you think that Tesco should define ‘success’ in terms of its entry into the US market. Should Tesco put a time limit on its market entry activity? If so, what might that time limit be?

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• DOI: 10.32535/jcda.v3i2.807
• Corpus ID: 219501554

Market Opportunities and Challenges: A Case Study of Tesco

• Muhammad Raqib Aiman Bin Rosnizam , D. Kee , +4 authors Aisha Mohammad Alajmi
• Published 20 May 2020

5 Citations

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Tesco Corporation’s Internationalization Strategy Case Study

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Introduction

Analysis of the existing strategy, costs and benefits of the strategy, environmental challenges, resources/capabilities, new strategic directions.

Tesco is one of the leading UK retailers that started its international expansion in the 1990s. The company’s focus on internationalization was a successful strategy that led to remarkable growth in many regions and considerable profits that reached $3.8 billion in 2011 (Wrigley, Lowe, & Cudworth, 2013). However, success in some regions was accompanied by major failures in other areas, which led to significant losses, both financial and reputational. This paper includes a brief analysis of the company’s strategy, as well as challenges the company faces and new strategic directions to adapt to address these challenges.

The focus on international expansion was determined by the growing regulatory and competitive pressures Tesco had to handle in the domestic market. The first areas of expansion were countries of Central Europe that were undergoing major transformations in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Regulations in those countries were minimal, and competitors were also quite a few, which enabled the company to earn a significant share of the market (up to 27%) in 2011 (Wrigley et al., 2013). At that, Tesco experienced the most unprecedented growth in Asia, specifically in South Korea. The company is now the second-largest retailer in the country, with revenues of over £5 billion (Butler & Neville, 2013). The company is successfully penetrating the markets of India and China.

Nevertheless, the expansion into the US market that started in 2007 proved to be a failure as the company announced that all the stores would be closed and sold in the near future (Ruddick, 2013). It is noteworthy that Philip Clarke, the company’s CEO, understood the complexity of operating in the USA as the market was saturated, and the competition was rather fierce. However, the decision was to enter the American market with a focus on fresh food (which was quite expensive).

The internationalization of Tesco has a number of peculiarities. First, the company made some partnerships. One of the most successful partnerships was implemented in South Korea (Wrigley et al., 2013). Tesco and Samsung collaboration was successful as Tesco managed to address various issues associated with operating in new markets. First, the retailer managed to learn the peculiarities of the country’s legislation and regulatory policies.

Customers’ needs and characteristic features were also acknowledged. Tesco also managed to establish a retail chain that seemed fully domestic. Another peculiarity of Tesco’s expansion was the focus on its private labels rather than manufacturers’ products. The company also tried to be customer-oriented. However, in many regions, Tesco failed to achieve this goal, which led to failures and losses (Yoder, Visich, & Rustambekov, 2016). The company did not meet the needs of customers in the USA, Japan, and other regions.

It is necessary to note that internationalization is often an effective strategy used when the competition in the domestic market becomes too fierce, or other environmental challenges come into play (Wrigley et al., 2013). The expansion to other markets allows companies to improve profits through the increase in sales. The company can allocate funds wisely and invest in profitable projects. Operating in new markets helps companies become more flexible and innovative.

On the one hand, businesses learn about different regulatory policies and laws. On the other hand, they learn how to adjust to such environments. This flexibility is essential in the contemporary globalized world as regulations and norms existing in some countries tend to be adopted in other regions as well. There are chances that the norms and regulations existing in a foreign market will be used (with some differences) in the domestic market as well.

Nonetheless, the costs associated with the use of this strategy are also substantial. First, any expansion requires significant financial investments (related to acquisitions, alliances, construction of facilities, and so on). For instance, Tesco invested £1.25 billion to enter the American market (Wrigley et al., 2013). Clarke stated that this kind of investment was affordable for the company, and it could become transformational for Tesco in case of success. The CEO also stated that the major reputational loss in case of failure was associated with his name, not the company. Nevertheless, the reputational loss is apparent, and its negative effect can become visible soon. Unsuccessful expansion can come at a high cost, and Tesco’s failures in some regions can be seen as illustrations of these costs.

Tesco’s failures are associated with a number of wrong decisions as well as environmental challenges. First, the company entered the American market a year before the global financial crisis of 2008 (Butler & Neville, 2013). The environmental factor was accompanied by the inability to adjust and the inability to address customer needs (Yoder et al., 2016). For example, Fresh & Easy stores offered high-quality products, but they became unaffordable for price-sensitive Americans.

Furthermore, the focus on private labels was also ineffective in the US market. Martinez-Ruiz, Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Jimenez-Zarco, and Izquierdo-Yusta (2016) stress that American customers often become loyal to particular brands. People’s needs and preferences were not addressed, which resulted in failures. Customers’ peculiarities were not taken into account in other regions as well. For instance, in Poland, people prefer convenience stores to large hypermarkets while Tesco focuses on this type of retail units in that region (Ruddick, 2013). Apart from the inability to identify people’s needs, Tesco also faced issues related to the introduction of new regulations.

For instance, the changes in the Indian legislature has a negative effect on the development of the company and its further expansion in the region (Butler & Neville, 2013). Finally, many countries are trying to address serious financial issues and introduce new taxes, which also has an adverse impact on the company’s growth.

When discussing the resources and capabilities of the international retailer, it is necessary to note that Tesco has substantial funds to invest in numerous projects. The company’s billion profits show that significant funds can be allocated to innovate and expand. Apart from the obvious financial resources, the company also has other resources and capabilities. For instance, Tesco has a positive experience associated with the collaboration with companies operating in new (for Tesco) regions (Wrigley et al., 2013).

This experience can be helpful when expanding to new markets (in India and China). Tesco’s experience in collaborating with other companies can generate value as the company will be able to employ it in other regions (collaborating with other companies). The use of this strategy can help the company reduce costs, understand new markets better, and develop a proper image in the new market.

The company also tries to innovate and come up with new products and services. The development of private labels is one of the areas where Tesco has succeeded in many regions. For example, its tablets have acquired significant popularity (Warman, 2013). Hence, the development of private labels can help the company meet the existing and potential customers’ needs in a more efficient way.

The company is also expanding its e-commerce operations. Tesco’s management claims that being online is one of the major competitive advantages in the retailing industry (Warman, 2013). The company has quite effective information systems that can be used to implement marketing research, share knowledge within the company, and so on. The data obtained can help the company create value-added products and services that can attract more customers and meet the needs of the existing customers.

It may seem that the most appropriate strategy for Tesco is the focus on the domestic market and the most successful foreign markets (such as South Korea). However, the UK market is saturated, and the competition is very serious. The company needs to expand, but the expansion strategy should be based on the lessons learned from previous years. First, Tesco should launch large-scale market research with a focus on customers’ characteristic features (profile).

It is essential to understand what people need and want. One of the successful methods to learn more about new customers is the development of partnerships and alliances. Tesco can collaborate with local businesses to develop a successful marketing strategy.

Yoder et al. (2016) note that ineffective supply chain management contributed to Tesco’s failures. The company should implement research concerning the most efficient locations of stores and other facilities. This task is closely connected with another area of concern. The company should analyze the existing competition in new markets. Tesco should properly evaluate the existing competition and (based on this analysis) decide whether new Tesco stores can be set or other locations should be chosen. It is also important to identify Tesco’s competitive advantage to be able to win the competition or, at least, remain a successful player in the market.

Finally, Tesco should focus on innovation as this strategy has proved to be effective in South Korea and many other countries. The use of technology is instrumental in achieving this goal. For example, South Korean customers enjoy so-called virtual stores (Wrigley et al., 2013). These advances can be equally successful in western countries as well. The use of mobile technologies is also on the rise. E-commerce is another area to develop.

In conclusion, it is possible to state that Tesco has chosen an effective strategy that implies internationalization. This strategy is associated with numerous opportunities, including larger profits, growth, flexibility, organizational learning, etc. However, it is vital to avoid the mistakes the company has made. For instance, Tesco should reconsider its supply chain management, especially when it comes to the choice of location. The company should implement extensive research concerning customers’ needs and preferences.

It is also critical to evaluate properly the existing competition in different markets as well as environmental issues as macro and micro-economic factors affecting the development of countries and regions. Tesco should maintain its focus on innovation, but the use of advanced technologies and marketing strategies should be based on extensive market research. Although the company is still facing numerous internal and external issues, Tesco can still retain its leading position and improve its operations in different markets.

Butler, S., & Neville, S. (2013). Tesco’s empire: Expansion checked in UK and beyond . The Guardian . Web.

Martinez-Ruiz, M. P., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, I., Jimenez-Zarco, A. I., & Izquierdo-Yusta, A. (2016). Private labels at the service of retailers’ image and competitive positioning: The case of Tesco. In M. Gomez-Suarez & M. Martinez Ruiz (Eds.), Handbook of research on strategic retailing of private label products in a recovering economy (pp. 104-126). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Ruddick, G. (2013). Is Tesco’s dream of building an international empire unravelling? The Telegraph . Web.

Warman, M. (2013). Tesco Hudl tablet takes on Kindle and iPad . The Telegraph . Web.

Wrigley, N., Lowe, M., & Cudworth, K. (2013). The internationalization of Tesco: New frontiers and new problems. In G. Johnson, R. Whittington, D. Angwin, K. Scholes, & P. Regner (Eds.), Exploring strategy: Text and cases (pp. 657-661). Harlow, UK: Pearson.

Yoder, S., Visich, J., & Rustambekov, E. (2016). Lessons learned from international expansion failures and successes. Business Horizons , 59 (2), 233-243.

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IvyPanda. (2020, November 13). Tesco Corporation's Internationalization Strategy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/tesco-corporations-internationalization-strategy/

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Bibliography

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Transforming the HR operating model: Tesco

A case study of a people function shifting to a four-pillar model to deliver a more consistent employee experience throughout the organisation

Tesco is a retail, distribution, banking, and mobile communications business operating in the UK, Ireland, Central Europe and India. It has approximately 330,000 employees.

Operational context

Drivers for transforming the hr model, what they did, top tips for a successful transformation.

Covering several industries, Tesco has a varied geographical footprint and operates under several brands (including Booker and One Stop). Given the complexity of business operations, Tesco is keen to provide colleagues with a consistent employee experience, regardless of business area. In this case study, employee experience is referred to as ‘colleague experience’, as termed by the organisation.   

Eleanor Winder, Head of People Operating Model, explains that colleague experience was a strong driving force for change: “We are working together across Tesco to build a great place to work for all, and colleague experience is at the heart of this. How do we make sure that our colleagues across the business have a consistent experience, no matter where they work?”

Tesco wanted an operating model that enables the business to be future-fit, is responsive to the rapidly changing world of work and provides a consistent colleague experience. This included addressing current workforce needs, while building in more flexibility to respond quickly to changing priorities.

There was a desire to move from a UK-centric model to a more ‘group-led’ approach, which considered the diverse needs of the group, and brought a larger focus on local market requirements.

The HR operating model was designed by the people leadership team using design principles and maturity models to establish the current state and future aspirations of the people function. Tesco applied these design principles across their model to ensure accountability and to measure progress. 

Through this change, Tesco aimed to improve the efficiency and impact of the People Team by: 

• investing in specialist roles aligned to strategic priorities 
• removing duplication across the model  
• planning and re-prioritising the people team resources  
• encouraging more self-service through digital enablement, giving colleagues access to people services at all times.

The new structure

Eleanor Winder stressed that: “The operating model isn’t just the way the team is structured; it’s having one aligned ‘people plan’ and the technology enablement that goes with that. It’s the insight that drives the thinking. It’s the skills that we need in the future.” 

The new operating model has four pillars as shown in Figure 1. For the previous Ulrich+ model see McKinsey research for futher details.

• A strategic partnering team was created : This team is responsible for shaping people solutions, providing strategic insight, and is focused on priorities that drive the business forward (including culture, capability, talent, EDI and future workforce). This was a deliberate shift from more generalist and operational partnering, to partnering more strategically with business leaders. While the number of ‘people partners’ was reduced, Tesco invested in new roles across the team including in Project, Change, Communications, Talent Partnering and Colleague Relations.  
• ‘Practices of expertise’ teams were established : These replaced the previous Centres of Expertise by bringing together expertise from across the People team (eg a Talent and Capability PoE) and shifting from being UK-centric to a ‘group-led’ model through greater collaboration with local markets.   
• A new ‘People Change’ team was set up : This was to build new capabilities to lead change through the specialisms of strategy and planning, programmes and projects, and change and communications, alongside people data. This ensured that expert communication and change skills were available within the people function.  
• ‘People Services’ were brought together : This team is focused on delivering consistent colleague experiences, from point of hire through to retirement, driving business value through efficiency, continuous improvement, cost focus and compliance.
• Consolidating HR roles across functions : To enable more consistency, reduce duplication and improve colleague experience, colleagues in ‘People’ roles across the business were brought together within the People Team.
• Increasing self-serve and digital enablement : Self-serve is a key part of the operating model with less reliance on people partner support. “Future skills partners were appointed to encourage self-service and build capability on the usage of new HR technology, while line managers were upskilled on key people processes and where to go for help”.

 Timeline

Tesco has taken a staggered approach to introducing and stabilising the model across its markets. The design and development of the new operating model has been iterative (see Figure 2). Tesco recognises that the model will continue to evolve and mature over time in response to changing market and business requirements.  

There were several key enablers to ensure the model was implemented and continues to embed effectively: 

1. Leveraging internal skills and knowledge within the business : The people function drew on the organisation’s skills and knowledge by partnering with other internal teams, such as the customer insights team. These skills helped the people function to understand colleagues’ sentiment throughout the transformation (for example, what they think and feel about working at Tesco). 

2. Developing core skills within the people function : The people leadership team has identified five core skills relevant to all people professionals within the people function. These include: 

• ‘group-wide lens’ (for example, understanding and considering broader context, collective goals, needs, relationships and dynamics of the group markets and businesses) 
• commercial acumen  
• data and insight-led leadership  
• technology and digital skills
• strategic business partnering. 

Each member of the people team has been invited to complete a diagnostic to identify their strength and development areas. Learning programmes are being developed within each of the core skill areas.  

3. Understanding and inspiring careers in the new model : To showcase future career opportunities, Tesco produced a podcast-style series of conversations focusing on career pathways in the People Team at Tesco.  

4. Developing leaders and new ways of operating : Significant time was spent developing team cohesion and clarifying roles and responsibilities. When the model launched initially, there was a focus on engagement across the business to develop teams’ understanding of the new operating model. Line managers received essential training on talent and learning, and a refresh on self-serve tools, managing resourcing requirements and where to go for HR support.   

5. Using ‘ Big Room Planning ’ to embed the new operating model : This enabled key stakeholders to meet in person and agree priorities for the year ahead. This method of agile planning brings all relevant teams together to align on shared priorities and agree how they will achieve strategic goals on a quarterly basis.

Challenge areas

Given the complexity and scale of this transformation, there have been challenges during the process:  

• The diverse range of colleagues and cultures across the Group has meant a complex environment with differing capability needs. 
• Different levels of technology maturity across the Group means there is complexity in seeking consistent experience and gathering consistent data. 
• Other business functions have different operating models, which has led to a need to coordinate with multiple stakeholders in local markets to adapt to local decision-making processes. 

To address these challenges, Tesco held workshops to gain insight around deploying the model across different markets. This highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the Group and key considerations to develop new propositions. As a result, a series of discovery sessions was developed for the people team, to build awareness of the different businesses and geographies across Tesco. More recently, a market toolkit was developed to build more understanding of the nuances, differences and similarities of the different markets in the group. 

Eleanor Winder points out: “Our markets have slightly different needs, so we needed to be comfortable that, while we have an ambition, it can't be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ perfect match. We’ve had to find a pragmatic way through to achieve our desired maturity.”

As Tesco is currently embedding the model and running post-implementation reviews, early metrics are being monitored. However, some overall successes of the new model include: 

• an aligned group people plan with agreed outcomes and clarity on group versus local market priorities 
• incorporation of more local market expertise and knowledge into projects  
• a people portfolio that allows for comparison and assessment of outcomes and contributions to the people strategy and priorities  
• streamlined, simpler and more cohesive people communications and colleague messaging, focusing on moments that matter with minimal local market adaptation 
• an increase in key engagement metrics in the people team across the Group, especially in terms of ‘a great place to work’ and being ‘happy with the career choices available’ which both increased by three points in the most recent engagement survey.

Continuous review and improvement 

Post-implementation reviews are scheduled six to 12 months after each team change has been implemented. These help celebrate what is working well, but also result in actions such as feedback to colleagues and targeted working groups to facilitate any necessary improvements.

• Build a shared understanding of goals and required outcomes from day one : Address challenges immediately and ensure continual dialogue.  
• Communicate accountabilities and boundaries between the different teams : Ensure that discussions around ways of working and the operating model are frequent, rather than shared once and never revisited. 
• Define essential future skills : Focus on developing these skills across the people function.  
• Coach and develop leaders : Tesco has a programme to develop ‘digital advocacy’ so that leaders feel competent to self-serve using technology.  
• Continually evolve your model : ‘Fail fast’, reiterate and move forward. Be realistic about the pace of change which the organisation can absorb.

“The world around us, the business, social constructs and technology continue to evolve, so we need to constantly look ahead. There's no sitting back and thinking that we've made it - and that can be challenging in terms of feeling a sense of progress and yet knowing that there's always more to do.” Eleanor Winder, Head of People Operating Model.

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