Tesco Share Price Drop...

[Blindtraveler]

i use a tesco occassionally but its milk, sarnies, cold drinks, or as its opposit my local spoons that all important thing I remember I need at some point between drinks, usually bin bags or something!
There not able in my mind to compete on any level with ASDA, LIDL or Aldi
and I take there slump as a bit of a Haha we told you amusing moment. I do have friends who work there but luckilly the stores concerned have nout else near them so wil be safe. Talking to one of them lately he was saying the price drop on there own branded value products cost them more than they ever dreamed it would and as pointed out by somebody else many of these are poor qualitty compared to other chains who are catering to a budget market.
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i also know a few foalk who have lately lost there jobs and switched to there value range items and were horrified and switched v quickly to a budget chain.
I used to work for ASDA and nearly went for management. Not doing so was I think a mistake as, well, look where they are now with the economy as it is?

 

[Butts]

Strikes me we have a few porkies being told or we are unrepresentative of the UK populace as a whole

30% is a huge Market Share of the UK Grocery Market.

No one ever votes Conservative or shops in Tesco seemingly

 

[gswindale]

We primarily use Tesco - as it is roughly as far to get there as it is to Sainsbury's and generally not as chaotic.

Can't remember the last time we shopped in Asda. Have no idea where one is near us, so looks to me as if any savings would be offset by petrol.

Don't particularly like our local Morrisons either. Just something about the store layout.

 

[Hydro]

Don't particularly like our local Morrisons either. Just something about the store layout.

Same, I've never been a fan of Morrisons for the same reason. I don't know why but I find Morrisons to be a pain to negotiate.

 

[SS4]

I have no idea where my nearest Morrison's is although upon checking it's closer than I thought
I find being able to browse the store online without logging in is important too. Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda (in that order) are the best at it. Offers change often enough to make this a virtual requirement

I still see Tesco as a supermarket who's primary aim is to sell food. Sure there are other things but they're often cheaper online. In common with all of supermarkets if not retail itself the offers are very crafty for example 2 for £3 or £1.59 each.

The major reason I do not shop at tesco remains distance though. My nearest major store is at Beggars Bush whereas Asda and Sainsbury's are much closer, between them I usually go with asda but check for offers

 

[Yew]

And I wish they still were!

Being a bloke I probably shouldn't say this, but it's always been the male checkout assistants who screw up one way or the other when I have had checkout provess problems, never the female ones - so I always seek out a female operated checkout even if it means queueing up a little bit longer.

So, sorry fellow men, but there are some things we should not be attempting!

generally, The front end department will have a hight Female;Male ratio, whereas backroom departments have a lower ratio. So statistically, a Guy will somebody from a department who only has a basic understanding of tilling, whereas the ladies will be more experienced.

Overall, Us guys in departments dont like working on tills, and wish we didnt get called to them so often. (its ok for me though as I dont work when the store is open anymore )

@greenback If you are buying produce from tesco, go for stuff in packets, as the loose stuff generally isnt so fresh.

 

[WestCoast]

i use a tesco occassionally but its milk, sarnies, cold drinks, or as its opposit my local spoons that all important thing I remember I need at some point between drinks, usually bin bags or something!
There not able in my mind to compete on any level with ASDA, LIDL or Aldi

I know what you mean. Personally, I am not a big fan of any of the "big 4" supermarkets. They're crammed with "offers" of dubious value that trick you into thinking you're getting a good deal. One tactic is to put the prices up and then lower them as a "price crash" or whatever.

There's lots of cheesy marketing gimmicks (rollback slap your arse e.t.c), and "customer service initiatives" like meeters & greeters/store champions which are supposed to make the customer "feel good".

Alongside butchers and fishmongers, my favourite supermarkets would be Booths (a quality local supermarket in the North West) for higher end groceries and Lidl/Aldi for basics such as tins/jars/bread/confectionery/sliced meats and non-food home essentials like cleaning products (they are nearly always cheaper than Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury's/Morrisons and usually of an equivalent or higher standard). Aldi's continental meats and cheeses in particular are exceptional. Booths has won many awards for its excellent local produce.

I just want a simple experience, I couldn't give a damn about smiley people at the door or whatever. I'm amazed at how many people are convinced by the "big 4's" marketing. I just want a reliable price with good quality. I am not bothered about my shopping being packed or paying for bags (don't be wasteful and bring your own!).

 

[WillPS]

Sainsburies are going down the same kind of lines as tesco are going down now, and WHSmith Travel went down a long time ago, and the're loosing their brand image because of it. Rather than selling what customers want that keeps them in good image, the're selling what they can make the most profit on and that is driving their sales space, this can be seen in any WHSmith Travel (look on railway stations) where they have

FSDU Sold Space (Small wheeley things 0.4m wide)
Range Rotated Sold Space (Usually the top shelves in confectionary)
Perminant sold space (Ever wondered why cadbury's fell to hand so easily?)
Magazine sold space (Thats why the're on the news stand)
High Impact FPF, Offer, Island End, Flash Pannels, etc. Sold Space
TPC (Till Point Conversation) Sold Space (If you don't ask if you want this for £1 etc etc. you'll be on a disciplinary for it, even though it takes you five times longer to serve someone who clearly doesn't want it)

And now...

Clip Strip Sold Space, that I have also seen in Tesco, and for stock that you really just can't put on clip strips (Them plastic things you hang up)

And to anyone who wonders why I know this, read up a lil, used to work in this industry, and I'm bloddy good at my job (or what it used to be).

That's just a load of random retail jargon - apart from the last point it doesn't seem to bare much relation to your point on them being out-of-touch with what customers want. I personally have never found an FSDU offensive, nor the fact that shops are merchandised to present me with things I don't want but might like to buy...

Sainsbury's sales are up - and 2.1% of that is down to expansions which are said to have crippled Tesco (over-reliance on non-food) - I think they've got their head pretty well screwed on.

 

[Temple Meads]

I always shop at Tesco at my current location, as it's only 5 minutes away, compared to Morrisons at 20 minutes, plus the store layout is a lot nicer, and the Value range is always great when I'm in penny pinching mode.

 

[jon0844]

I stopped shopping at Tesco about 10-11 months ago, as I felt that given how much I slated many of their business practices, it was time to actually stop being a hypocrite by slagging them off and still shopping there.

We still get fuel there every now and then, and I've been once before Christmas to get some essentials, but that's it. I miss the Clubcard vouchers, but I used to change them for BA miles and I get less value from them now anyway.

Our shopping now includes Waitrose (for the Quick Check system that is worth a premium, even though I think Waitrose did very well by advertising that it price matches 1,000s of items from Tesco). The offers are FAR clearer if you self scan, as you won't miss out on things - and can see as you shop what you're spending and actually put things back. No surprises at the till.

For other things, it's Aldi. A total contrast, but I let others consider supermarkets as being for certain classes. Aldi is cheap and cheerful (although I do wish companies would stop trying to look like the big brands - I know they're not the same products, so don't try and trick me!) and they scan items at an incredible speed, so it's the next best thing to Waitrose.

Personally, I'd be happy to stick with Waitrose almost all the time (and if we had a Booths, I'd shop there in a flash - even nicer, and obviously a lot of the same products).

I also disliked the fact that Tesco now sells a lot of cheap tat, and prices on a lot of things (e.g. electricals) aren't actually very cheap or competitive. The staff also seem to have no interest in giving help. Shopping at night was once a good idea, but not since they shut off almost every till. I think they have at least one staffed till now, but I remember going when they had self checkout tills only from 11pm to 5 or 6am.

Try doing a full shop, when it's nice and quiet and the shelves are freshly stocked, and then self scanning a trolly load. You won't do it again. In fact, I remember seeing trolleys just left standing where the customer had clearly said 'sod it' and walked out.

 

[Ivo]

The staff also seem to have no interest in giving help. Shopping at night was once a good idea, but not since they shut off almost every till. I think they have at least one staffed till now, but I remember going when they had self checkout tills only from 11pm to 5 or 6am.

Try doing a full shop, when it's nice and quiet and the shelves are freshly stocked, and then self scanning a trolly load. You won't do it again. In fact, I remember seeing trolleys just left standing where the customer had clearly said 'sod it' and walked out.

This is one of the things I like about ASDA at home. My brother and cousins and I regularly visit it at 0100 or so, and the staff are only too happy to open a till for us (although in practice we usually only have donuts, Pepsi and baguettes anyway so there's no ened). And with the older of the two cousisn having a car we don't even need to worry about walking the ten minutes home either.

By contrast, I don't suppose the above would apply if Tesco served eastern Southend and not ASDA.

 

[Eagle]

This is one of the things I like about ASDA at home. My brother and cousins and I regularly visit it at 0100 or so, and the staff are only too happy to open a till for us (although in practice we usually only have donuts, Pepsi and baguettes anyway so there's no ened). And with the older of the two cousisn having a car we don't even need to worry about walking the ten minutes home either.

By contrast, I don't suppose the above would apply if Tesco served eastern Southend and not ASDA.

The Tesco near the University of Warwick (Cannon Park) has at least one or two tills open 24/6—but then again that's because there will always be a few drunk/stoned/in the middle of revision students who are hungry at three in the morning.

 

[WillPS]

The Quick Check system you refer to is getting rolled out across Sainsbury's shortly. They actually trialled it a while ago under the "fasttrack" brand - that seemed to stall about 7 years ago. Safeway also had a system (called "scan & go") but that was lost in the relentless technology cull that followed Morrisons' takeover.

The new JS System (also called "scan & go") system will involve docking your handset in a self-service checkout at the end of your shop, then rather than a whole rescan being necessary every so often, the operator will just check 1 or 2 random bags. It's a great idea although with all such systems they get annoying when absolutely clueless people (e.g. my Mum) try to use them.

 

[Harlesden]

There is a link between the ending of overnight rail services in Britain and the lack of manned checkouts overnight in supermarkets. Cost - staff rightly expecting a premium rate for a night shift. People complain about having to use self scan during the night, but they would also complain if prices were raised to cover the cost of night checkout assistants who would not be allowed to simply sit at their till all night but would be required to do other tasks while keeping an eye out for customers refusing to use the self scan. I see absolutely nothing wrong with Tesco and have always found their staff polite and helpful.

 

[jon0844]

Why isn't Tesco doing this too?

It is a fantastic way to shop and the Waitrose system is even quicker if you have a partner card, as you don't even need to go to the person who asks if everything scanned okay.

We've had a 'random' request to manually scan the items we've already scanned twice in just over a year - at least I presume it's random.

It's so easy, I am sure my mum or dad would easily be able to use it too. There's plenty of elderly people using them in our Waitrose, as it saves the packing at the till when you can fill your bags as you go. Partner card holders get green trays to use too.

There is a link between the ending of overnight rail services in Britain and the lack of manned checkouts overnight in supermarkets. Cost - staff rightly expecting a premium rate for a night shift. People complain about having to use self scan during the night, but they would also complain if prices were raised to cover the cost of night checkout assistants who would not be allowed to simply sit at their till all night but would be required to do other tasks while keeping an eye out for customers refusing to use the self scan. I see absolutely nothing wrong with Tesco and have always found their staff polite and helpful.

I never asked Tesco to stay open all night. They did so because they were open anyway to stock the shelves, so it was a way to make some extra money - and whenever I went through the night, I was NEVER the only one in there. Far from it (but, admittedly, this was an Extra in London). I have no idea what extra money they paid till staff, but aren't many multiskilled? So if they're working on the shop floor, then what extra cost is there to get them to go and man a till for a bit before going back?

I am not sure there's a real link to the running of trains through the night, where drivers would likely demand more money. That said, I'm sure that on some routes the TOCs could do the maths and work out if they could run an hourly or twice-hourly service.

When I lived in London, even the Tesco Metro & Tesco Express stores were open all night. First they were open, with added security staff. Then they went to night windows from around 11pm. Then, presumably after even more trouble, they closed at night. I am sure it wasn't just down to staff costs, but crime issues, but perhaps Tesco should stop being open 24 hours if they actually have no interest in providing a service to customers after 11pm or midnight? Again, nobody is forcing them to stay open - so either stay open and provide the service you do in the day, or don't.

 

[WillPS]

The frequency of the checks is determined by how honest you've proven yourself to be - if they do a random check and find a given quantity of unscanned items you're more likely to be hit again in the future. If you're honest it'll more or less trust you.

Tesco and ASDA have never tried it - I think that the potential for shrinkage and their lack of trust in their customers puts them off.

 

[WestCoast]

Our shopping now includes Waitrose (for the Quick Check system that is worth a premium, even though I think Waitrose did very well by advertising that it price matches 1,000s of items from Tesco). The offers are FAR clearer if you self scan, as you won't miss out on things - and can see as you shop what you're spending and actually put things back. No surprises at the till.

For other things, it's Aldi. A total contrast, but I let others consider supermarkets as being for certain classes. Aldi is cheap and cheerful (although I do wish companies would stop trying to look like the big brands - I know they're not the same products, so don't try and trick me!) and they scan items at an incredible speed, so it's the next best thing to Waitrose.

It's funny you mention these outlets: www.which.co.uk/news/2011/12/waitrose-is-number-one-supermarket-says-which-273468/

Look who tops the tables for supermarket satisfaction in 2011. It's Waitrose and the discounters (Lidl/Aldi).

I ignore the stupid notions about social status and supermarkets, where you shop does not define your class. That's something that would rarely enter the minds of consumers outside Britain with its intricate class system!:roll: It works both ways; "only the rich shop at X, so I can't afford it" or "that shop is for poor people because it's cheap".

Anyway, something entered my mind. Sir Terry Leahy left Tesco about 10 months ago. Perhaps Tesco is losing direction because of his departure? It can happen when there is a change of personality and outlook at the top.

 

[jon0844]

Terry Leahy left and so did many others shortly after I believe. Anyone might reasonably guess, or if not just come out and say it more directly, that he (and the others) knew things were going pear shaped and it was time to get out.

Given how slow most businesses work, it's unlikely that the new guy was responsible for decisions that may have been made under the previous management and would have been hard to change. Consequently, it could be the new guy that actually fixes things, as against makes things worse.

 

[Butts]

Terry Leahy left and so did many others shortly after I believe. Anyone might reasonably guess, or if not just come out and say it more directly, that he (and the others) knew things were going pear shaped and it was time to get out.

Given how slow most businesses work, it's unlikely that the new guy was responsible for decisions that may have been made under the previous management and would have been hard to change. Consequently, it could be the new guy that actually fixes things, as against makes things worse.

Steady on......they are not quite on their uppers yet

30% UK Market

3rd biggest in the World

THREE BILLION + PROFIT forecast !!!!!!

Mind you Sainsburys used to be no 1 .....history couldn't repeat itself could it

 

[jon0844]

What I'm actually saying is that things might improve, rather than get worse. The new guy is going to get the blame, but if he's not the one ultimately responsible then they may already be making the right moves.

 

[WillPS]

Steady on......they are not quite on their uppers yet

30% UK Market

3rd biggest in the World

THREE BILLION + PROFIT forecast !!!!!!

Mind you Sainsburys used to be no 1 .....history couldn't repeat itself could it

I don't know if it'll take them quite so long to recover, but the 10 years of (basically) denial in the 90s caused the rot. I've seen nothing yet to suggest that Tesco are at all embracing a need for change.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I ignore the stupid notions about social status and supermarkets, where you shop does not define your class. That's something that would rarely enter the minds of consumers outside Britain

Aldi and Lidl both see many shoppers these days from the whole range of shopping public as they are now both well-known companies in Britain today.

The company that deliberately targets a specific market is Farmfoods, with Ricky Tomlinson in the starring role in their advertisments.

 

[WestCoast]

The company that deliberately targets a specific market is Farmfoods, with Ricky Tomlinson in the starring role in their advertisments.

I quite agree! Iceland also have the worst adverts imaginable.

It's important to bare in mind that Tesco is a global retailer. They seem to be doing very well in Eastern Europe, Turkey and a number of countries in Far Eastern Asia. Their USA operation isn't peforming all that strongly though, but that's definetly a very difficult market to crack.

 

[SS4]

The company that deliberately targets a specific market is Farmfoods, with Ricky Tomlinson in the starring role in their advertisments.

Now they're running an advert with an annoying schoolgirl voiceover detailing their specials. Fracking annoying it is too.

 

[jon0844]

I think there's a recognised phenomenon that shows that most companies that become huge find themselves suddenly, and often very quickly, suffering huge losses even when they've not necessarily done anything inherently wrong. Many businesses can no longer survive on simply doing what they've always done well as it's as much about brand than the service, price and other more traditional factors.

It could be that people simply get bored, or the brand goes out of fashion, or there's come controversy that they can't shake off, or a disaster (think BP). They could also have a 'Gerald Ratner moment' which kills the company almost overnight!

In my field, look at Nokia. I could also say that I'm sure that there will one day be a backlash against Apple, especially without Steve Jobs there now. Microsoft also suffered. RIM is likely to suffer, having struggled in the Enterprise market where it was number one. Currently, it relies on the fact that 95% of kids now own one - as they're so cheap to use (£5 a month for unlimited BBM? Who needs calls and texts?) but what happens when kids decide BlackBerry is no longer cool?

There are probably some notable exceptions, like Coca Cola, but I guess that once you're at the top then the only way is down. The recovery will depend on why people have turned away from Tesco.

 

[Madge Wildfire]

I think there's a recognised phenomenon that shows that most companies that become huge find themselves suddenly, and often very quickly, suffering huge losses even when they've not necessarily done anything inherently wrong. Many businesses can no longer survive on simply doing what they've always done well as it's as much about brand than the service, price and other more traditional factors.

It could be that people simply get bored, or the brand goes out of fashion, or there's come controversy that they can't shake off, or a disaster (think BP). They could also have a 'Gerald Ratner moment' which kills the company almost overnight!

In my field, look at Nokia. I could also say that I'm sure that there will one day be a backlash against Apple, especially without Steve Jobs there now. Microsoft also suffered. RIM is likely to suffer, having struggled in the Enterprise market where it was number one. Currently, it relies on the fact that 95% of kids now own one - as they're so cheap to use (£5 a month for unlimited BBM? Who needs calls and texts?) but what happens when kids decide BlackBerry is no longer cool?

There are probably some notable exceptions, like Coca Cola, but I guess that once you're at the top then the only way is down. The recovery will depend on why people have turned away from Tesco.

I have always been suspicious of Coca Cola, as I have noticed that certain retail outlets give far more prominence to their products compared with those from Pepsi. I wonder if they have some financial inducements to stock one company's product and not another?

I have noticed this a lot in garage forecourt shops and also shops at railway stations.

 

[Nym]

They do... It's called sold space...

 

[SS4]

I have always been suspicious of Coca Cola, as I have noticed that certain retail outlets give far more prominence to their products compared with those from Pepsi. I wonder if they have some financial inducements to stock one company's product and not another?

I have noticed this a lot in garage forecourt shops and also shops at railway stations.

Microsoft are infamous for it.

 

[gswindale]

I have always been suspicious of Coca Cola, as I have noticed that certain retail outlets give far more prominence to their products compared with those from Pepsi.

The opposite is also true though. Frequently when going into a pub and asking for a "coke"; you receive the response "Is Pepsi ok?"
Clearly Coca-Cola go for the take-away market and Pepsi tend to go for the "pub" market.

 

[Nym]

PepsiCola offer much better deals on postmix systems that Coke do, but coke has a number of sold space arrangements with most major and some minor retailers to dedicate a set amount of space to their products.

Eg. If you go to a Group B WHS Travel Store (Such as Piccadilly Rail, or MANT2 A1), you will (or should) find that if we have a four shelf, six metre fridge, that there will be:

12 Facings of Coca Cola, 12 Facings of Diet Coke, 8 Facings of Coke Zero, and at least 3 - 4 facings of each other Coca Cola UK bottled soft drink, including: 4 Fanta Orange, 3 of other Fantas, 6 of Sprite, 3 of Dr Pepper, etc etc.

Pepsi gets 5 facings of Pepsi, 4 of Pepsi Max, 3 of Diet Pepsi, etc etc. And beleive it or not, they're paying for sold space too!

AG Barr Soft Drinks get six facings in the whole fridge, because they don't pay for sold space, it's a different deal in Scotland, this is only E&W stores.