Tesco profits down - where they have gone wrong?

[Funions]

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...

BTW unless food has a foreign name or yellow discount sticker my children get confused that they're in the right house.

The food is poor quality and nowhere near as good as sainsburys and not noticeably cheaper to make me chose to shop there.

DH says store locations not very good, and as pp say, they're 'falling between' cheaper (and higher quality) retailers like Aldi, and 'high end' like Ocado

Many customers don't like Tesco's lack of ethics.

The atmosphere in the stores is hideous. We can't take DS1 in there because he melts down. TBH, even without him there, I barely cope any better. The lighting is awful and the air vents are really noisy.

The supposedly fresh food is often not very fresh and doesn't keep until its use by date. And their meat is pumped full of water and additives. PLus, it's possible to go into one of their Extra stores in October and find one solitary box of British apples. That's not on. They just don't seem to care where it comes from.

For customers not on a tight budget, like us, it's hard to find a wide range of the types of products we want eg higher welfare meat, fair trade etc. Those that are stocked are a lot more expensive than the Sainsburys equivalent (and both stores are more expensive than the M&S equivalent). Their wine selection is uninspired, too.

The only time we do suck it up and shop there, since it's actually a closest large supermarket (and we've not set foot in the place for 2 months), is just to stock up on crap loss leaders.

I'm sure we're not the only people with a healthy, rather than frugal, food budget who drive straight past Tesco to Sainsburys or M&S (or Waitrose, if you're lucky enough to have one.)

I really didn't like Tescos for years as I have been an Aldis convert since one opened near me. But Tescos are slowly winning me round again. Their value range is very cheap, their money off coupons (£4 of a £40 shop), other special offers and their variety. Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for them when I see hardly anyone in there anymore, feel free to tell me I'm being ridiculous.

Usualsuspect - please don't take offence.
This is the stuff Tesco needs to spend some money on to put right.
They were #1, so there is only one way to go, if they make fundamental errors.

For a supposedly cheap shop - with a definitively cheap vibe - it's simply far too expensive. I prefer Sainsbury's or Waitrose, M&S, even Lidl and Aldi. Morrissons and ASDA, on the other hand, just depress me.

I like Sainsbury's, the quality is high, even on their Basics lines and I also like the explanations on the Basics that tell you why it's cheaper. I'd rather buy less and decent quality.
Our local Sainsbury's is largely staffed by students, polite, helpful, friendly and efficient.
I've never had a problem with their online ordering either, unlike the many complaints about Tesco on MN.

Too many pricing errors on Shelf edge labels.

Too many errors on offers, necessitating having to check till receipts and then queue at customer service for 10 mins.

Too many " on purpose" mistakes placing stock on shelves in incorrect place.

Too many instances of me taking incorrect shelf edge labels to customer services and being advised its a head office mistake, why no action, ring head office and tell them.

The reason Tesco are losing money is because Aldi is cheaper.

Nothing to do with 'shit staff'

The staff in Aldi etc are no different.

Aldis staff are paid a little bit more, so they smile a little bit more.

Too expensive. Lidl shopper here.

I prefer asda.

Their food seems much better quality & sometimes it may not be the best quality but it is cheap.

Asda's offers are good.

Asda seem to care more about their customers. A lot of the time if u are wrongly charged at asda they will refund you as well as giving u a little extra as a sorry. It is very hard to gef a refund from tesco.

Tesco are expensive for rubbish quality & at my local store the checkout staff are very uninterested & rude.

It's obvious when the cost of living goes up, people look to shop at cheaper stores.

The staff in our local aldi are no better than tesco. Lidl staff are friendly & helpful.

What every single check out person is rude?

Yes, but Aldi staff are quick and efficient and don't do small talk at the tills. They throw the shopping at you, which appeals to my personality - I love packing my food up double quick - it's fun. DP hates it for the same reasons as I love it

Tesco clothes are shit, their 7 plus girl's stuff is for mini hookers, and their offers are laughable, 20pence off something that's so close to the use by date it's almost green.

I loathe Tescos, yet 5 years ago they were the only supermarket I shopped in. I now do an online shop with Ocado and then top up in Aldi, Sainsburys or Waitrose. Here's why:

1. I hate the store ambience. It looks messy, the stock is horribly heaped up, the aisles are narrow. The lighting, general mess, dirty toilets, overly loud pricing displays just jar with me. My local Sainsburys is a similar size store but is pleasant to wander around.

1. Customer service is appalling. The staff are often surely and rude in my local store (perhaps they have to deal with too many complaints).

1. They are unreliable, I've been badly let down by click and collect. The one online order I did was a farce with ridiculous substitutions. I went to Sainsburys the same day to pick up things I needed still.

1. Pricing isn't any better, most stores do a price match, others are cheaper to start with.

1. Quality is not as good as other stores. Own brand stuff is disappointing and fresh things don't last as long as they should.

Two reasons for me:

1. slave labour
2. asda quality at waitrose prices

I shop in aldi now with an organic veg box. I save a fortune and the food is much better quality and cheaper.

To be fair on the staff, most of them in our local Extra are pleasant enough. I think staff attitude in shops is often a reflection of their general morale levels, though. I remember when Safeway was still around and their staff were always as miserable as fuck - in all 3 stores in my area. Sainsburys took over one of the empty stores - some of the same people ended up there, but the atmosphere was a lot happier. The Durham Safeway became Waitrose and the staff in there were absolutely lovely. They'd have been from the same pool of people, from the same area, but no doubt enjoyed their job a lot more and were more aware of the importance of a bit of courtesy.

Tesco online round here is shocking. I've had awful substitutions and missing items on every delivery I ever had from them.

I use Ocado now, weekly and spend far less than I used to going into Tesco each week and we each much nicer food too.

Fucking hideously too bright and light and fucking freezing in a big warehouse kind of way.

Shitty horrid plastic food cafes with cheapo plastic tables and chairs.

Zero warmth, care, attention of personality.

They cram the place with stuff, just boxes ripped open and they stuff just left for you to grab. Zero finesse, romance or enticement, no love.

To me Tesco is like pile cream, uncomfortable and sometimes necessary but always an unpleasant experience.

There does seem to be a massive problem with their pricing, I have been overcharged several times. I don't always have time/ability to queue again to rectify a 50 p mistake with a baby and toddler in tow, but it rankles because they are expensive. And I wonder how many times it has happened and I haven't noticed.

The quality of their F&F is poor compared to Primark and yet it is more expensive.

I dislike the same product being in different locations according to brand. Eg bombay mix. Tesco brand is in the snacks/crisps aisle. But you also have other brands in world food, bigger cheaper (and nicer) bags. But if you didn't realise that you'd buy the smaller more expensive bag.

Multipacks - I usually find at least one example of pre packed multi packs being more expensive than the same number loose. Baked beans is a common culprit. The pricing is misleading. I sometimes need a calculator to compare prices.

The stores are too big.

Poor ethics

Too noisy

Electric & gas suppliers trying to get you to switch. Fuck the fuck off with that one.

Car washes in the car park. See above.

Long queues

Credit card salespeople lurking in the aisles.

Too much choice.

Own brand toiletries, household stuff not BUAV approved.

Naff signage "every little helps" what they mean is the md wants a new mansion/holiday home in Monaco/spouse.

- substituting the wrong size nappies on a home delivery. Different brand would have been fine, but not totally the wrong size

As I mentioned my one online shop with them was a farce, I had this same problem. Plus decaf coffee was replaced with caffeinated and non bio washing tablets were replaced with bio ones (no good for DH who gets eczema breakouts with biological detergent). Quite a lot was substituted on that order and it was all daft.