Tesco Opens UK’s First Self Service Store
British retail giant Tesco has opened the UK’s first completely self service store in Northampton.
The convenience store Tesco Express, has no checkouts that are staffed, and instead uses a set of five self service scanning tills which are overseen by a single staff member.
Tesco says the aim of the “assisted service store” was to speed up trips made to the store and increase efficiency. The retailer said however, that there were no plans to implement the checkout in its larger supermarkets.
A Tesco spokesman said: “Customers like the fact that there are five checkouts available. Before, you could have four manned checkouts but only one person working the till. It’s a lot quicker but some people have never used them before so a member of staff is there to assist.”
The head of the British Retail Consortium, Richard Dodd, says he believes the move could trigger the beginning of a technological revolution, which would be the end of manned checkouts at supermarkets.
Critics say that unmanned checkouts signal the end of “basic human interaction” between shoppers and check-out staff, which could mean job losses in the thousands.
But critics of the move warned that it signalled the end of “basic human interaction” between shoppers and check-out staff, and could ultimately result in thousands of job losses.
A spokesman for rival Asda was quoted by supermarket .co.uk as saying that “hell would probably freeze over” before it opened a store with no customer interaction on the checkouts.
Sales Growth At British Supermarkets Falls
Sales growth at British supermarket chains has slowed to its lowest pace in nearly three years, largely as a result of a sharp drop in food price inflation according to the results of a new survey.
The study conducted by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel suggests that aggregate sales across all British supermarkets grew by 3.6 per cent year on year during the quarter ending March 21st, the slowest growth rate since August 2007.
Kantar Worldpanel says the reason for the slowdown was due to lower food price inflation which fell to 1.8 per cent compared with 9.1 per cent in the same time period during the previous year.
” While lower inflation has had a dampening effect on retailer growth, it also “brings benefits to consumers. The latest figures suggest that shoppers are taking advantage of slower grocery price increases by trading up to more expensive lines such as Tesco Finest,” Kantar Worldpanel ‘s Fraser McKevitt said.
According to the results of the survey, Morrison’s was the strongest performer amongst the Big Four grocery retailers, with sales increasing by 7.8 per cent year on year during the quarter ending March 21st.
Next was Sainsbury’s with sales rising by 4.6 per cent, followed by Tesco (4.1 per cent) and Asda (2.7 per cent).
First Strawberries Of Season On Sale At UK Supermarkets
Signalling the beginning of spring, and the official end to winter, British strawberries went on sale at supermarkets across the country last week.
Strawberries went on sale at 25 Morrisons retail outlets in the South of England, with the UK’s largest retailer Tesco confirming they are now available in 15 stores.
The other major retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are all expected to begin stocking the first British grown strawberry crop of 2010 in the next few days.
Tesco strawberry buyer Ben Reed said: “Not only are we enjoying the first warm weather of the year this week but we’ve also now got the first British strawberries which means that summer is well and truly on the way.”
“The arrival of the first home grown strawberries is extremely significant – not only does it herald the start of British Summer Time but it is also the start of the UK growing season.”
“Many shoppers think of the first home grown strawberries as being bitter and hard but the ones we’ve got our hands on are delicious.”
Nicki Baggott, soft fruit buyer for Waitrose, added: “The first British strawberry signifies the end of winter and heralds the arrival of spring. This explains why it’s the ultimate feel good fruit – and one which retailers are clamouring to get on shelves as early as they can.”
Tesco To Launch Couture Clothing Range
Terry Green, chief executive of the UK’s largest retailer’s clothing unit Tesco Clothing, says the company is planning on launching a couture range of clothing on the retailer’s online store.
The range, which will be known as the F&F Couture online range of clothing, is the first move ever by a supermarket chain into high fashion retail, and will be launched with 16 items to begin with, that will sell for between £40 and £140.
Mr Green lauded the move as a new era for supermarket fashion, claiming the range offers a combination of high quality and affordable clothing.
Last week Mr. Green revealed that he will be stepping down as chief executive of Tesco clothing, after more than five years at the helm. His tenure as CEO was extremely successful with sales at the unit increasing from £700 million to more than £1 billion, and market share having risen from 7 per cent to 9 per cent during the time period.
Mr. Green’s previous position was chief executive of department store Debenhams.
Competition between supermarkets for clothing sales has become increasingly competitive of late, with the most recent set of blows being traded by Asda and Marks And Spencer over returns policies.
Small Business Worried By Number Of Supermarkets
New data released by the newspaper the Daily Mail suggests that more than two fifths of towns in Britain have at least five supermarket outlets within a ten minute drive of one another.
The report suggests that 42 per cent of all British towns were in such a position, with some chains owning more than one outlet within a ten minute drive of one other. The finding has alarmed small business.
David Amess, Conservative MP and and chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group is calling for a government inquiry into the supermarket industry.
Mr. Amess would like the government to investigate claims that supermarket retail chains are choking high street business. Mr. Amess claims that the retailers, through the employment of high priced lawyers, are able to overturn decisions taken by local authority.
The rise of the supermarket in the UK contrasts significantly with the number of independent retailers, which has declined considerably from 500,000 in 145, to just 35,500 today.
The ‘big four’ supermarkets – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have captured nearly 75 per cent of the £80 billion grocery sector.
Add to the mix the fact that the UK entered recession in 2008, and the story for independent retailers has not been good, with more than 2000 going out of business last year.
The diversification of supermarkets into multiple consumer segments has made it even harder for small businesses to be successful.
Sales Growth At British Supermarkets Slows
A new report issued by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel suggests that growth in sales at leading British supermarket chains slowed down to their lowest level in nearly two years.
The pace of growth in the market slowed to 5 per cent during the quarter ending February 21st, compared with 5.2 per cent in the preceding quarter.
A spokesperson for the research firm says the slow down in growth could be as a result of price cuts and price wars undertaken by many retailers. Some analysts suggests however that customer loyalty may be declining as a result of the economic downturn.
Asda was the leading beneficiary in February, after having seen declines in January. The retailer engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign which produced sales growth of 3.3 per cent during February compared with 2,1 per cent in January.
Despite the increase, Asda’s market share has fallen to 17 per cent from 17.2 per cent as perennial rival Tesco gained at its expense, increasing its market share by 0.3 per cent to 30.4 per cent of the total market after aggressively cutting its prices.
Some analysts have expressed concern at the performance of Sainsbury’s, whom many believe lags the traditional market leaders Tesco and Asda.
Tesco Starts Selling World’s Sweetest Tomato
Supermarket chain Tesco is stocking a new variety of tomato, which it says tastes as sweet as a peach.
The new variety, known as Sugardrop was developed by the retail giant to cater to sweet toothed customers and indeed anyone who finds that taste of ordinary tomatoes to sharp for their liking, in particular children.
Tesco describes the new variety as the sweetest tomato ever, The Spanish grown Sugardrop is in fact a hybrid of two different varieties of tomatoes, containing approximately three times the amount of natural sugar as regular tomatoes as well as half the daily recommended dose of vitamin C.
A Tesco spokesperson said that the process of creating the new variety required two years of cross breeding amongst 3,000 varieties.
“A few years ago we sat down with our suppliers and asked them to find us a high quality tomato that would appeal to gourmets with a sweet tooth,” she said.
“It was the beginning of major research that involved our growers contacting all the major seed houses in the world in order to find varieties that they could cross pollinate to find a tomato with higher than normal sugar levels.”
“The result is the Sugardrop which is the sweetest tomato there has ever been and now this week UK shoppers will be the first to try it.”
Tesco Doubles Polish Food Product Range
UK retailer Tesco has doubled its Polish food product range from 119 products to 211, as the supermarket responds to increasing demand. The increase in product range marks the first rise in sales since the products were first stocked in September 2006.
A probable influx of Polish immigrants into the UK has resulted in Polish food sales rising by 15 per cent from a year earlier. The supermarket giant had initially cut back on its Polish product range, after witnessing a 23 per cent annual decline in demand.
Tesco Extends Double Points Rewards For Clubcard Members
Tesco says it will extend its double point’s scheme until the end of summer, allowing Tesco Clubcard members to continue earning double points from all in store and online purchases.
Tesco’s advertising campaign uses the catch phrase “Double points extended until summer 2010.” And the retailer says it may even continue the promotion beyond the end of summer.
A Tesco spokesperson says the retailer was still considering how long it will run the promotion and so far has not announced the specific end date for the scheme.
“The reason we are running the current adverts is that, from research, customers saw this as a temporary scheme so we want to assure them it will run for at least a few months longer.” the spokes-person said.
Last August Tesco introduced double bonus points under which members of the Clubcard scheme earned two reward points for every £1 spent instead of the single point they usually receive for the same spend. Points can also be exchanged for Tesco Reward tokens.
Last week Tesco celebrated the 15th anniversary of its loyalty scheme by announcing that more than 14 million UK customers have received £120 million worth of rewards.
Tesco Chief Blasts Government Proposal To Create Supermarket Ombudsman
Tesco chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy has slammed the government’s plans to introduce a supermarket ombudsman.
Last month, the government announced its intention to create an ombudsman that would have oversight of grocery retailer’s dealings with their suppliers. The measure was proposed after a long investigation into the industry by the UK’s retail regulator, the Competition Commission.
The ombudsman has been billed to ensure “the grocery supply market continues to work in the long-term best interest of consumers”.
The ombudsman would also seek to enforce a code of practice for grocery supplies, which came into effect at the start of this month.
The Tesco chief however blasted the proposal, saying an ombudsman would have a negative impact on shoppers, because it would seek to protect the interest of suppliers rather than consumers.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Sir Leahy said:”I’m not in favour of an ombudsman. Everyone knows supermarkets are one of the most competitive industries around. That competition puts power in the hands of the consumer. In a free society, why would you want an ombudsman if there are no problems now as far as consumers are concerned? An ombudsman would be there to protect suppliers but should be there to protect consumers.”
He added that Tesco enjoyed a very good relationship with its suppliers, which were “unlikely to be helped by bureaucratic intervention”.
