Tesco delivery - cannot buy cheapest products

twinkle85

Hi all

Recently Tesco have been making their cheapest items unavailable online for delivery (for months now), but have them in store.

Such items I have noticed include

Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Cola 2L
Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Lemonade 2L
Ms Mollys Midget Gems 200G
Hearty Food Co Golden Savoury Rice 120G

I imagine this to do with profit margins but seems a little underhanded.

Has anyone else noticed this?

MovingForwards

The store that makes the delivery may not be the one you pop into.

When I had Tesco delivery it was from one another five miles away, not the one 10 mins walk away.

Browntoa

Tesco use what they call dark stores for online delivery.

A dark store is basically a warehouse fitted out like a normal store but not open to the public. Solely used for online so it's possible that items are not stocked or out of stock whilst still available in-store

judexx

twinkle85 wrote: »

Hi all

Recently Tesco have been making their cheapest items unavailable online for delivery (for months now), but have them in store.

Such items I have noticed include

Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Cola 2L
Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Lemonade 2L
Ms Mollys Midget Gems 200G
Hearty Food Co Golden Savoury Rice 120G

I imagine this to do with profit margins but seems a little underhanded.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I have noticed the same - items from their cheapest range that I have been buying online for years, are now coming up as no longer available. Like you, I suspect (but have no way of proving) that there's not enough profit margin in selling them online. Especially as, most people (myself included), will just buy the next cheapest rather than shopping elsewhere.

izzitme

Not every Tesco store does home delivery. I work for one & our delivery range is approximately 25 miles. We even deliver to towns where Tesco have supermarkets, but they do not stock the same range of goods as a dot com store.

Petula

Browntoa wrote: »

Tesco use what they call dark stores for online delivery.

A dark store is basically a warehouse fitted out like a normal store but not open to the public. Solely used for online so it's possible that items are not stocked or out of stock whilst still available in-store

Our deliveries have always come from our local (5 miles away) Tesco Extra store

twinkle85

Thanks for the input

I'm pretty sure the deliveries come from a Tesco Extra not far from me.
I always see the pickers and they work all through the night.

Many products come in and out of availability, but it seems their very cheapest versions of some products have slowly been removed one by one. I guess to encourage buying the next one up. Also to avoid having to sustitute up if out of stock.

The cola for instance was sometimes subbed up to three times its value!

Considering you actually pay for the delivery, sometimes up to £6.00, I think its a bit harsh.

Guess I'll have to go to store and stock up!!

Boohoo

twinkle85 wrote: »

Thanks for the input

I'm pretty sure the deliveries come from a Tesco Extra not far from me.
I always see the pickers and they work all through the night.

Many products come in and out of availability, but it seems their very cheapest versions of some products have slowly been removed one by one. I guess to encourage buying the next one up. Also to avoid having to sustitute up if out of stock.

The cola for instance was sometimes subbed up to three times its value!

Considering you actually pay for the delivery, sometimes up to £6.00, I think its a bit harsh.

Guess I'll have to go to store and stock up!!

I thought if Tesco substituted something then you only pay the lower cost so 22p for a 2litre cola and they give you Pepsi 2litre(or near to that size) and that costs £2 then you should pay 22p for it but if the sub is 15p then you pay 15p.


This may have changed since March when i last got Tesco home delivery.


As for you saying cheaper item replaced with higher priced stuff you could also reject these item if you wish and are not force to accept them.

dlusman

Boohoo wrote: »

I thought if Tesco substituted something then you only pay the lower cost so 22p for a 2litre cola and they give you Pepsi 2litre(or near to that size) and that costs £2 then you should pay 22p for it but if the sub is 15p then you pay 15p.

You are mis-understanding twinkle85s point. If you order something at 15p , but they substitute with something at 45p , then the shop loses big ( as you pay 15p for something that should have been 45p ). Therefor it is in the shops interest not to offer the 15p item at all if its going to be out of stock a lot

PasturesNew

They've been phasing out their cheap food over the years; there are fewer and fewer items in the line.

Every time they produce a new/expensive organic/gluten-free/made specially by hand by virgins for you line, a staple cheapo version disappears.

Food is being gentrified by stealth.

They stopped my favourite/gorgeous chicken korma (95p) ... and replaced it with one that didn't taste as nice for about £1.30. I've not bothered going in since, as that was my main motivation to "pop in when passing"....

walesrob

twinkle85 wrote: »

Hi all

Recently Tesco have been making their cheapest items unavailable online for delivery (for months now), but have them in store.

Such items I have noticed include

Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Cola 2L
Stockwell & Co Sugar Free Lemonade 2L
Ms Mollys Midget Gems 200G
Hearty Food Co Golden Savoury Rice 120G

I imagine this to do with profit margins but seems a little underhanded.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Probably simple reason is they’ve sold out. I’m a delivery driver for Tesco and the basic range often sells out before replenishments arrive in the early afternoon. People ordering online, in our store anyway, will often order huge quantities of cheap range food, especially the cheap water and very often both shelf stock and warehouse stock is used up by 7am by pickers. I’ve known orders of 100 bottles of water for 1 customer however this will be capped going forward as Tesco is not a wholesalers.