Strategy at Tesco Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategy at Tesco - Assignment Example is therefore a lot of pressure on traditional means of consumer shopping and the consumer behavior in the current scene of the UK economy is bad news for all. In the third quarter however, there has been seen a slight increase in sales due to people shopping for winter clothes and school uniforms and economists believe that this my point to a recovery of the economy, starting in the beginning of 2013. The third quarter saw sales volumes grow by 1%, compared to 0% in the previous quarter – a tremendous improvement when compared to the low growth seen in the last two years of very low shopping. (Uruci 2012) Looking at the current figures, although the growth rate seems to be on the rise, there is always that nagging doubt whether the economy is going to flourish or fall in the near future and how that is going to affect the retail industry. Take for instance the Olympic season – online sales in the UK fell since people were busy watching the Olympics instead of shopping as they normally would. Such is the state of the economy in the UK. (BBC 2012) Founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen, Tesco is one of the largest retailers in the world. They operate in 14 countries and employ over 520,000 people, and serve millions of customers every week. (Tesco PLC: History). What used to originally be a grocery retailer has grown tremendously to include books, clothing, electronics, furniture, petrol, software, financial services, DVD rentals, telecom and internet services, music downloads and so much more. Food or groceries however, still remains their greatest strength. Tesco currently appeals to a wide audience, across social groups because of its variety of products that range between Tesco Value and Tesco Finest. This gives them a benefit as they aren’t just focused on cost, but they work to provide quality and experience as well. Tesco is in an extremely competitive environment. They face competition from quite a lot of retail stores, many primarily grocers like