My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

News

Tesco profits down - where they have gone wrong?

303 replies

Funions · 02/10/2013 19:47

Not so very long ago, Tesco used to be held up as a massive UK business success story. I've read Tescopoly and sure some people despise them - they've enraged farmers and the protest lobby by aggressive policy with suppliers,store-expansion and squeezing out independent shops.

They've made a bunch of bad decisions outside the UK; but they had a huge loyal customer-base in the UK and a lot of their problems must come down to complacency and not thinking enough about their home-grown customers, despite the masses of data they collect through clubcards.

I'll post my own personal reasons for reducing my shopping with them, but think it would be interesting to have an open-forum to see just how out of touch and poor they have become, with stories from MNetters. Maybe someone from Tesco will read it and have a think about what they can change.

Dear Tesco....

This is where you have gone wrong...

OP posts:
DragonsAreReal · 02/10/2013 19:49

It has got way to expensive and it used to be as cheap as asda and now it's not.

pickledparsnip · 02/10/2013 19:51

It has got pricier, but food in general has hasn't it? I only shop there because of the Clubcard points. My other option is Asda & I hate them. Sainsburys is even more expensive, so I keep away from there.

DownstairsMixUp · 02/10/2013 19:52

You have got way too expensive and baffle people with the deals which sometimes make NO sense.

None of the stores I have been in feel homely, all feel very clinical and horrid. Take tips from Waitrose and Morrisons for a lovely shop.

Express's particular don't have enough staff and self service is pushed on us. Also the express' are ridiculously expensive compared to the main stores which are already horrendously over priced.

magnumicelolly · 02/10/2013 19:52

Too expensive now...

Timeforabiscuit · 02/10/2013 19:52

You simply don't do good groceries any more, fresh food especially has sacrificed quality for range.

I hate spending three hours to do a weekly shop, closest tesco is an extra.

I can't afford it, £80 weekly tesco shop is £40 -£50 in Aldi with some wine and chocolate thrown in.

thistlelicker · 02/10/2013 19:54

There is never any offers on!!! Getting greedy with their pricing!

craftynclothy · 02/10/2013 19:56

Well part of the reason we don't shop with them anymore is because there isn't one particularly convenient for us (we have numerous other supermarkets much closer). We did shop there recently though and my shopping was more expensive than we'd normally spend at Waitrose Shock

enderwoman · 02/10/2013 19:57

People don't simply want cheap food- it has to be good quality too. I'm thinking of the Aldi free range chicken for a fiver. Sainsburys Basics is far better quality than Value and there seems to be more products. I like how Basics prints why it is a Basic product,(eg Basic Houmous has less Tahini than store brand)

Customer service at my local Tesco is poor compared to Sainsburys, Morrisons and Asda. If the self service scanner at Morrisons goes, they assume that the machine has gone wrong. My local Tesco assumes that I am trying to do an Anthony Worrall Thompson.

It's not cheap any more.

niceguy2 · 02/10/2013 19:58

The main reason I can think of is that they've had to keep making these large profits in order to satisfy shareholders. But at the same time the market shifted dramatically because of the recession.

So lots of people who in the past would have never shopped at Lidl & Aldi suddenly started doing so. They tried half-heartedly to compete by launching their own lines but it's failed miserably. That line is too small and doesn't taste anywhere near as good as Aldi's range. I suspect if they did then they'd eat into their profitable own brand range.

I know so many people, myself included who do our main shop at Aldi then top up on the branded stuff we like at Tesco.

Plus I'm sorry....the checkouts are too bloody slow. I can get in an Aldi queue, it's about a mile long and I know I'll be through in five mins. At Tesco I get one shopper in front of me and I'm screwed. Too much farting around, the checkout person is often trained by snails and too busy nattering.

Finally and this is the most important point. Nowadays thanks to Aldi every time I go into Tesco I feel like I'm being legally mugged.

So if I have to complete the above sentence. This is where you have gone wrong. You are too expensive and too slow.

Bubbles1066 · 02/10/2013 20:00

It's too expensive now to do your shop in one place. I go to Aldi, Iceland and Morrisons now and can do the shop for £65 by getting the cheapest items in each shop. It's £80 getting it all from Tesco.

enderwoman · 02/10/2013 20:00

You really annoyed me by your Christmas online delivery policy 3 or so years ago. First come first served or people who spend £x that year or had a weekly delivery would have been fair but judging by the Internet it was totally random. Grrr

bundaberg · 02/10/2013 20:12

by being massive dicks

Funions · 02/10/2013 20:13

...you don't respect your customers

My biggest reason was Christmas delivery too. They messed up big time for me in 2011 and I have NEVER used their online service since then.

I placed an order for well over £100 to be delivered on Christmas Eve, (order placed three weeks in advance). I was 8 months pregnant and doing the family lunch at home.

They delivered everything, apart from the Turkey, no apology, no explanation, nothing.

They happily took the rest of my money for things I could have bought from a more competent supermarket. When I phoned to complain, they said they had run out of turkeys and nothing could be done.
Let's just say, as a pregnant lady, my reaction was emotional.

I have stuck to my guns and never used Tesco online since and I don't think I ever will.

OP posts:
NoComet · 02/10/2013 20:15

Just dull, the same old stock week in week out. Especially meat no imagination. Especially in smaller stores.

DH sometimes gets interesting things from the huge one by work, but the nearest one to home is dull as dishwater.

Also fairly expensive, but so is our nearest Morrison's

stargirl1701 · 02/10/2013 20:15

The stores are too big and the layout changes too frequently. Aldi/Lidl are much smaller and I can always find what I'm looking for.

Needingthework · 02/10/2013 20:16

Quality of products. Switched to Sainsburys.

ihatethecold · 02/10/2013 20:17

I always have to check my receipt.
Usually an offer hasn't gone through.
I then have go queue up at customer services, which I absolutely hate to be refunded £1.
If your doing this to everyone your making a lot of money being dishonest.
Customer service people are miserable as sin. Hmm

meditrina · 02/10/2013 20:20

Waitrose Essentials are just as cheap (for one demographic), Aldi/Lidll are cheaper.

Their niche has gone.

And Ocado is a fuck a lot better than Tesco online.

Lilyloo · 02/10/2013 20:22

I agree they cannot compete on price at Aldi or Lidl , when they do it's no where near as good quality.

MyMotherHadMeTested · 02/10/2013 20:23

Agree the customer service people appear to absolutely despise all customers. As if I actually want to join yet another queue at the end of an hour long shopping hell, just to point out that yet again, I have been overcharged. They practically spit at you as they hand over the refund.

RockMummy · 02/10/2013 20:25

They don't sell the food I want, so no point in going there.

Methe · 02/10/2013 20:25

There are never any decent reductions in our tesco.. The reduced bit have things that have been reduced from £2.99 to £2.85 Hmm they also take the piss out of their customers.

I go to sainsburys if I can.

Newsletters you might like

Discover Exclusive Savings!

Sign up to our Money Saver newsletter now and receive exclusive deals and hot tips on where to find the biggest online bargains, tailored just for Mumsnetters.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Parent-Approved Gems Await!

Subscribe to our weekly Swears By newsletter and receive handpicked recommendations for parents, by parents, every Sunday.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

feelthis · 02/10/2013 20:26

Their food, specifically the meat, is shit, the stores are badly laid out and the staff don't have a clue. Oh and it is eyewateringly expensive.

I had a very frustrating trip to my local one last week - wanted free range chicken thighs - not even a slot for them. Wanted turkey mince - only 2 packets on the shelf both with bb of one day later.

Left with very little meal ingredients and the whole processes wasted about 1 hour of my life.

I think the problem is that people have started shopping in places like Aldi where you don't feel taken for a mug, you can be in and out in 20 minutes, my local one anyway is a very pleasant place and the staff are lovely. The quality of the food is overall much higher too.

I only go to Asda and Sainsbury's now once a month when I need more specialised things. No way i would go out of my way to go to Tesco - they are pretty much the same price as Sainsbury's and much more crap!

stubbornstains · 02/10/2013 20:26

The ambience of ASDA teamed with the prices (but not the quality) of Sainsbury's. What's to like?

Viviennemary · 02/10/2013 20:26

They can't compete with the cheaper shops. And their quality is pretty poor. And the special offers are very very misleading. I should have got two for the price of one and didn't. I rang up Customer Services got no joy. I have not set foot in the place for a month. They are not customer friendly. Staff in all the other big names are much more helpful and polite.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.