Tesco

Introduction and Background

Tesco Plc is a UK based supermarket chain. It provides food, clothes, electricals, entertainment products, home wares, fuel and now ‘Tesco Direct’ a catalogue that offers just about everything a person could need. Tesco also provides non-tangible products such as finance, insurance and broadband. Tesco supplies its customers in different ways. It has the catalogue, online shopping site, Tesco express stores, Tesco metro stores Tesco superstores and Tesco Extra stores. The stores vary in size form the Express store which is like a typical ‘corner shop’, with a small range of convenience products too the Extra stores which are very big ‘warehouse’ type stores stocking almost all of Tesco’s range. They are found in different locations meaning that Tesco is present just about everywhere people might need it. Because of the convenient locations and variety of products on offer Tesco has become the UK’s biggest supermarket chain with reports claiming that one penny of every pound spent in the UK is spent in Tesco.

“Tesco's core UK business is significant within the group,
With over 250,000 employees and 1,779 stores. Nearly 80%
Of group sales and profits come from the UK business” http://www.tescocorporate.com/publiclibs/tesco/CoreUK.pdf Tesco operates in a competitive market though it is the market leader in UK supermarkets.

“Tesco sells a third of every Brit's food. Giant UK-based retailer Tesco has announced sales rose 11 per cent to Stg47bn in 2006. About three-quarters was from the UK, equivalent to Stg750 from every person over 16”
Apr 18, 2007 (The Sydney Morning Herald ) Australasian Business Intelligence

“Of every £8 spent by British shoppers in any shop, anywhere, £1 of it will be making its way to Tesco. Tesco will sell £30 billion of goods this year in Britain - more than double either of its nearest rivals, Sainsbury's and Asda. If Tesco were a nation it would be the 74th biggest economy in the world - bigger