 | |
Type of site | Online retailer |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Tesco |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2000 |
| Current status | Active |
Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. It offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services. Tesco closed their Tesco Direct website in 2018.
Tesco has operated on the Internet since 1994 and started an online shopping service named 'Tesco Direct' in 1997. Concerned with poor web response times (in 1996, broadband was virtually unknown in the United Kingdom), Tesco offered a CDROM-based off-line ordering program which would connect only to download stock lists and send orders. This was in addition to, rather than instead of, ordering via web forms, but was withdrawn in 2000. Tesco.com was formally launched on 11 April 2000. [1] It also has online operations in the Republic of Ireland and South Korea. In 2003, tesco.com's CEO at the time, John Browett, received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for the innovative processes he used to support this online grocery service.
In 2001, Tesco.com invested in GroceryWorks, a joint venture with the American Safeway Inc. (who had long since sold-off their UK subsidiary and Tesco's former rival, Safeway plc), operating in the United States and Canada. GroceryWorks had stepped into the void left by the collapse of Webvan, but did not expand as fast as initially expected and Tesco sold its stake to Safeway Inc in 2006. [2]
Tesco claimed in its 2005 annual report to be able to serve 98% of the UK population from its 300 participating supermarkets. In the financial year ended 24 February 2007, it recorded online sales up 29.2% to £1.2 billion and profit up 48.5% to £83 million, with over 250,000 orders per week. [3]
Tesco launched its first home shopping catalogue in autumn 2006, as another channel for sales of its non-food ranges. This is integrated with the internet operation, with both channels being branded as "Tesco Direct". [4]
Tesco launched an advertising campaign for its internet phone, marketing the service to customers by offering free calls to all other Tesco internet phone customers.
On 1 October 2006, Tesco announced it would be selling six own-brand budget software packages for under £20 each, including office and security suites, in a partnership with software firm Formjet. [5] As Formjet is exclusive distributor for Panda Security and Ability Plus Software, packages from these companies are likely to feature.
In June 2007, Tesco.com became the first home delivery company in UK to provide customers the option of delivering shopping in green boxes without carrier bags in a bid to reduce the amount of carrier bags used as part of Tesco's green commitment. In return for customers going bag free they receive green clubcard points. [6] After trialling a fully bagless delivery service, Tesco stopped using plastic and paper carrier bags for all online orders delivered from 19 August 2019. [7] The only bags used from this date will be for small loose items such as nuts and small fruits which could not be placed loose in a delivery crate, and small bags for meat/fish items which might otherwise prove a hygiene risk.
In July 2009, Tesco became the first supermarket in the world to offer an API. [8] This feature will potentially pave the way for smart appliances such as networked fridges that can automatically order food. [9]
Tesco.com acts as a portal website to its other major on-line business areas: Tesco Grocery, Tesco direct, Clubcard, Bank, Clothing, Wine By The Case, and Tesco Entertainment.
A loyalty program or a rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program.
A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday United States usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".
Tesco plc is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen in Hackney, London, in 1919. In 2011, it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in the world measured by revenues. It has shops in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, and one in Gibraltar. The company is headquartered in Bradford, England.
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Sobeys Inc. is a national supermarket chain in Canada with over 1,500 stores operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.
Waitrose & Partners is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned business, which continues to operate the brand. The company's head offices are in Bracknell, Berkshire.
Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States, with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
William Low & Co plc, popularly referred to as Willie Low's and latterly marketed as Wm Low, was a chain of supermarkets headquartered in Dundee, Scotland. Initially founded in 1868, Low's had branches throughout Scotland, North East England, Cumbria and Yorkshire. As a group, it was smaller than most of its competitors and often served small towns, although it still had several large hypermarkets. Low's use to trade on their Scottishness as a unique selling point in Scotland. At one stage, the company also ran a chain of frozen food stores known as Lowfreeze. Lowfreeze was sold in 1987 to Bejam.
Woolworths Supermarkets is an Australian chain of supermarkets and grocery stores owned by Woolworths Group. Founded in 1924, Woolworths is currently Australia's largest supermarket chain with a market share of 33% as of 2019.
Tesco Clubcard is the loyalty card of British supermarket chain Tesco. It was introduced to Tesco customers in 1995, where it has since gained over 20 million users as of 2021. The card works on a point-based system, where holders receive points based on money spent. The amount of points earned depends on what type of item is bought, and from where.
FreshDirect is an American online grocery company and among the first enterprises to sell and deliver perishable foods to consumers without maintaining a retail operation. It offers its services via a website and mobile app.
Criticism has been directed at Tesco from various groups, including national organisations, trade bodies, individuals, consumer groups and watchdogs, particularly since the early 2000s.
TalkTalk TV Store was a UK-based transactional video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. Content is generally streamed, with downloading currently possible on Windows PC/laptops. The blinkbox brand had been extended to companion services offering digital music and books.
Presto Foodmarkets was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in Great Britain, which first appeared in the early 1960s. While the fate of most of the chain's stores was conversion to Safeway, the final stores still trading as Presto were either closed or sold in 1998.
A reusable shopping bag, sometimes called a bag for life in the UK, is a type of shopping bag which can be reused many times, in contrast to single-use paper or plastic shopping bags. It is often a tote bag made from fabric such as canvas, natural fibres such as jute, woven synthetic fibers, or a thick plastic that is more durable than disposable plastic bags, allowing multiple use. Other shoppers may use a string bag or a wheeled trolley bag. They are often sold in supermarkets and apparel shops.
Coles Online is an online retail site worked by Coles Supermarkets. The administration offers a wide scope of ordinary basic food item items for buy by means of the web and resulting home conveyance or "Click and Collect" areas. The administration is accessible to over 85% of the Australian populace.
A dark store is a retail outlet or distribution centre that exists exclusively for online shopping. A dark store is generally a large warehouse that can either be used to facilitate a "click-and-collect" service, where a customer collects an item they have ordered online, or as an order fulfillment platform for online sales. The format was initiated in the United Kingdom, and its popularity has also spread to France followed by the rest of the European Union and Russia, as well as to the United States.
Tesco has expanded its operations from the United Kingdom to 11 other countries. Tesco pulled out of the United States in 2013, but continues to see growth elsewhere. Tesco's international expansion strategy has responded to the need to be sensitive to local expectations in other countries by entering into joint ventures with local partners, such as Samsung Group in South Korea, and Charoen Pokphand in Thailand, appointing a very high proportion of local personnel to management positions. It also makes small acquisitions as part of its strategy: for example, in its 2005/2006 financial year it made acquisitions in South Korea, one in Poland and one in Japan.
Supermarket Direct was a pioneering online grocer, providing a home grocery shopping and delivery service in London from October 1995. The company sold Sainsbury's-provided groceries until it was bought by Somerfield and integrated into the Somerfield Direct home shopping service.