Tesco Leads UK Retail Christmas Sales Misery

RUN_RABBIT_RUN

i am totally fed up with shoping at tesco, their stores are soulless and the nearly all the staff i encounter have had a personality bypass

also sick of them doing a 'mcdonalds' and opening a shop every five feet

have started using my local co-op and other retailers instead, definite pros and cons but a nice warm feeling that my money isnt going in their tills

IronWolf

drc wrote: »

Didn't Warren Buffet suggest Tesco shares as a good buy very recently? He's normally pretty on the ball.

Yes, he is a shareholder so not surprising. I'm also a shareholder, can't say I'm a massive fan of the UK supermarket business but Tesco is so much more than that now. I think Tesco wont be properly appreciated again until consumer spending recovers but it's still a really strong business and underpriced imo.

There's a more detailed discussion about Tesco on the investments board https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3725449

Retailers all round are taking a battering at the moment though, a sign of the times.

Halfords I'm watching closely because I think they're doing really well considering, and I like their new autocentre business. As a retailer I think they're less exposed to the internet because of the assistance they give to customers in car maintenance. Nowadays less and less people know how to even change a tyre, let alone replace other parts. Still, revenues from car parts plummeting, only offset by cycling.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I used to love tesco. Wouldn't shop anywhere else. But have recently swapped to sainsburys.

OK, so some of the items cost a few pennies more. BUT, the range is larger, the food is generally better quality, and I find the service better. Queues were getting terirble at my local tesco's, and you were forever bumping into staff with massive great trolley things doing the online shopping...which I understand, but don't understand the need for 4 foot wide trolleys blocking the isles!!

Tesco's doesn't seem to put much effort into unique products. Whereas i can pop into Sainsburys on the way home from work and pick up a different meal. Tesco's may have carrot and suede mash, but that seems to be the lot.. Sainsburys has various types of fresh potato sides....bubble and squeak, some other potato hash thing, and accompanying different vegetables. I don't often buy it, but when I do I enjoy it.

When I'm with my son shopping, we pop to the counter and get a freshly made gingerbread man or another little treat for him. In tescos all they have are the mini ones where you have to buy the whole plastic box, or often, again, overbacked cookies in a pack.

Sainsburys (and especially Asda...don't get me started on their fresh pizzas, yum!) have a wide range of oriental meals, fresh at the deli. They put effort into other varieties at the deli too, antipastie or something (spelling?). Tesco's just have ham and an uninspiring sausage roll and the likes. The oriential meals are shipped in on the shelves. tesco's USED to do some fresh stuff, but they took over that space and put a mobile/communications shop and opticians in the store in it's place, so food floor space is ever decreasing.

Morrisons has it's own range of pies and other freshly made stuff. They are unique in that they have a lot of local produce (in my nearest store anyway).

Tesco's is all just boxed stuff, and the basics. Anything they can pre-prepare, freeze and ship in gets sold. Gets a little boring...and feel they have branched out into far too much stuff and are becoming the experts in nothing.

You're dead right.

Tesco have been losing their way for at least 18 months or so. They've spent too much time trying to improve margins by squeezing suppliers rather than looking at customer offer. It's got so bad now that if you have a meeting with a Tesco buyer it's entirely possible that they have very little idea of what they sell in their department. All organisations suffer from office politics but Tesco is by far the worst so ar*e covering is the order of the day.

Supply chain and forecasting are terrible. Take a look at the wine aisle - it's easy to spot special offers - that's where they keep the shelves empty. Shareholders should be enraged - suppliers protect Tesco margins during promotions. Empty shelves are bad enough but during a funded promotion they might see 200% uplift with a protected cash margin. They should be a win win win - good offer for customer, protected margin & increased sales for Tesco and the chance to get new customers for the supplier. Instead it's a lose lose lose - the customer is p*ssed off, Tesco lose money and the supplier doesn't get new customers to trial the product.

Morrisons and Sainsburys are both tough to deal with too but in any meeting with them they always give the impression that they know their target customer and consider what they want.

drc

I've switched to Sainsbury's too. I find it cheaper and just a nicer atmosphere. Tesco was becoming this arrogant monolith with little variety and their grocery prices went crazy. Plus they have halved their reward points so no point in shopping there anymore when you can get a better deal in Sainsbury's or one of the value supermarkets like Aldi or Lidl.

Also, their clothing range is so expensive for a supermarket.

RUN_RABBIT_RUN

theyve gotten really complacent, because they think their the biggest and untouchable

the tides going to turn, methinks

Pennywise

Tesco, Halfords, Argos, Little Chef, etc - one common factor - carp customer service. I'd happily pay more and travel further to avoid having to deal with their so-called staff who more often than not havn't a clue and don't even remotely try to "help" the customer.

Argos: Usually managed by stroppy "jobsworth" young women who seem to take it a personal insult if you want a refund for a faulty item - the SOGA has completely passed them by!

Halfords: Don't ever get a bike made up by them if you don't want to risk personal injury - the "bike manager" at our local store couldn't even work out how to fit stabilisers properly to my DS's first bike - result being a nasty fall and cuts/bruises - he'd fitted bolts that were too short and came undone the first time it was ridden!

Tesco: Seems to have really gone downhill in the last year or so. I often used them for electronic goods etc., but the last few times I've wanted something, they've either been out of stock or far more expensive.

Little Chef: Again, once were fine and I used them a lot, but last couple of years have been dire. I once suffered a wait of 2 hours for a simple meal when they were "busy" - i.e. had about 4 tables all arriving at once which turned the so-called chef into a gibbering wreck as he clearly couldn't cook more than one order at a time, so he did them strictly in order, finishing the earlier order before even starting the next - clearly never heard of multi-tasking! What a waste to redefine their menus etc when they clearly failed to realise the problem was carp staff.

On the other hand, John Lewis sales up - I wonder why? Oh, yes, far superior customer service!

Doh! can't the big firms get it into their heads that the only way they'll survive is to up the ante on customer service. Not everyone wants cheap at any price. Plenty of people are still happy to pay a little more for a better service.

RUN_RABBIT_RUN

so so right

treat your customers like dirt and they will walk

tesco, too big to fall? dont bet on it

Thrugelmir

RUN_RABBIT_RUN wrote: »

tesco, too big to fall? dont bet on it

You are overlooking the fact that Tesco's has an expanding overseas operation.

wotsthat

Thrugelmir wrote: »

You are overlooking the fact that Tesco's has an expanding overseas operation.

..and if they treat their overseas customers like simpletons the same thing will happen there.

CRASH_BANG_WALLOP

Their big price dop promotion was a big let down. "every little helps" what a joke the only thing that keeps them going are their points