Tesco profits down - where they have gone wrong?

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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...

My ex was trained by sainsburys and went to tesco after a few years . Even he says he prefers to work for Sainsburys. in his opinion sainsburys care more about their customers and he was trained that the customer is always right. He works in the bakery and regularly he still takes it on his own back to keep the customer happy by giving free samples or opening packets for them to try . Tesco don't mention this during training .

These days its profit over customers but without our money there would be no profit ...

One of the main reasons their profits have gone down is that their endeavours abroad haven't gone well - trying smaller stores in the US where people prefer to do massive shops and load up their trucks with huge shops for eg

Like lots of others I stopped going to Tesco when they started using slave labour. Personally prefer Waitrose but usually Sains as it's cheaper! No Aldi near but the Lidl is ok.

I think Tescos is so critised because their brand promises and what they want us to believe feels deceitful as their behaviour is very different... All this 'every little helps' rubbish when yes, it does actually and they don't help!

They seem to have a 'fuck the world' capitalism ethos which feels quite disturbing when put together with their 'cradle to grave' strategy where we dim consumers are locked into their shabby products and services from our first breath, to after we die. Nasty.

Symbol of a dystopia come to life in our lifetimes as it were -

with land grabbing
aggressive driving of small retailers out if business
farmers and suppliers driven down to the brink of poverty
massive food wastage and a determination not to give any away
linked with the government to take on almost slave labour...

Whilst all the while collecting massive amounts of data on their club cards....

Not a beautiful image is it!

Tesco deliveries I've always been happy with. I hate the shops. And I hate the self service checkouts. Just a ploy to reduce staffing costs.

Sainsbury's is building a store near us so we will switch soon, for deliveries and top-ups. Nearest Aldi is too far away and I don't want to waste precious weekends food shopping.

Their meat. Lots of imported stuff,and even their British minced beef,from value pack to "finest" is always labelled " a mixture of frozen and fresh meat". Why?

The absolute arrogance of the company.

They know that so many people are wedded to their club card points and will shop there regardless, so they don't need to bother making an effort.

Their ridiculously cynical Christmas campaign of a few years ago which actually meant very few actual savings.

It is expensive. Far more so than Sainsburys. I just go to Lidl and poundland now and the Asian grocers and save myself a fortune.

The stores are grubby.

Tesco express are hateful constantly the aisles are full with metal cages.

It's a hateful experience shopping there.

The food quality is very poor. Unripe fruit and veg in inappropriate amounts of wrapping and volumes that most people simply don't want or need. Bread is similarly poor.

Huge warehouse style stores with awful lighting. Ridiculous range of items but somehow never have the things that you really need. In my local store on a Sunday there was nearly always women fighting .

We've started going to Booths - more expensive but heaven! Loads of local produce, knowledgeable butcher, fishmonger and deli staff and usually there's a free food and wine tasting on.

I bought a sandwich from there last year, the chicken comes from Thailand. I dread to think of the welfare of battery farmed Thai chickens. What a ridiculous supply chain that is.

That said, the staff in my local express (which I have to use out of necessity sometimes) are lovely.

The only thing drawing me to tesco is the scan as u shop. Our local store has just introduced them. I havent tried it yey but i am a sucker for a gadget.

One thing I like about Lidl is the fact the shop is so small. So a week shop can be done in about 20 minutes. Any of The main shops here are huge and take bloody ages to traipse around. Plus why does there need to be so much damn choice? I just want a tin of tomatoes, I don't need to choose between 20 different types.

Tesco just isn't cheap anymore - I live within walking distance of a large Tesco and same size Waitrose, and when buying the same weekly essentials the price is the same. But Waitrose food is much nicer.

That said, my cat likes Tesco catfood and the washing powder is good.

I like the idea of Aldi (and it is cheaper than Tesco) just not the free-for-all when it comes to packing. I don't go quickly enough

Oh, and the Tesco Clubcard vouchers are shite - the savings I make through them are miniscule, if in fact there is any saving at all.

Hate my local Tesco with a passion but it's convenient and there's lots of free parking.

It's always freezing inside. Filthy. And my biggest gripe is the stock levels - never go there on a Monday morning or at 4 in the afternoon as there appears to be nothing left. Useless.

Last time I went, the knob on the checkout was so vile that I actually looked for the manager to complain. No management anywhere on the shop floor and a long queue of pissed off customers at the customer service desk. I just walked out fuming.

that's very well put DoubleLife

That's true LeGavreorff a choice between A & B is fine not teh whole alphabet. My Aldi is the same in and out in 40 mins.

I'm amazed to hear about all the filthy shops and rude staff out there. Our locals (2 massive and 3 metros in London) are clean and sparkling and pleasant. And the staff are nice - still I don't shop there cause it's expensive and the food isn't all that. And I don't like them as a corporation.

They were very rude to me as an 8 month PG woman and let me down with a party order - and the chap I spoke to on the phone was BEYOND rude. And I complained in writing - still never got an apology for any of it. They pretty mush said to me "fuck you we don;t care and take no responsibility). That was SIX years ago and I I still think "fuck you tesco".

So fuck them.

Oh and I'm beyond at the mixed fresh and frozen mince!!!

The Aldi/Lidl thing works because of the quality - if you are selling a good quality product at an good price you only need to stock one or 2 varieties of tinned tomatoes/olive oil etc.

And some things are just is cheap. Chips are something silly like a couple of quid, think a bag of frozen chips is 50p in lidl. A chips a chip, god knows why they are so expensive in Tesco.

I agree though that shopping in lidl used to be the mark of a scummer. There is no shame in it now, but there did used to be.

The Royle family used to have Lidl bags hanging on the back of the kitchen door

ninilegsintheair It takes a few visits to get used to the paying bit at Aldi. A friend of mine hated it at first but now is also an utter convert.

To speed up getting through the till I put all the heavy uncrushable stuff at the front, squashable stuff at the back. So once they start scanning I can pretty much just scoop everything into the trolley often faster than they can scan. By the time the squashable stuff comes your trolley is usually fairly full so it's sitting at the top.

Then move to the back where the packing area is and just take your time. Easy peasy and smile having saved about 40% off your regular shopping!

Thanks niceguy . I do the same method as you, I just get flustered and find it all a bit too quick. And even more difficult if you've got the kids with you!

Too expensive. Just can't compete with aldi. As someone else said, it's Asda quality at waitrose prices.

Cynical pricing strategies - whack the price up, then later advertise it as half price. I know they got in trouble for this, but it's still happening. Do they think their customers are stupid?

Unless I am totally on the ball with a meal plan for the week and a grocery list, I get really overwhelmed in my local Tesco, which is huge. Doesn't matter if I have children with me or not. The layout and the way the deals are displayed get confusing. A lot of the 2-for-£X deals are not actually that good if you start doing the math and comparing like items.

Have definitely noticed the disparity in prices between stores. When I lived in Glasgow, the Tesco in Maryhill used to charge more for several items than the huge one out in Braehead. A friend told me most folks shopping at the Maryhill Tesco wouldn't have the means to travel to other supermarkets and get the best price, whereas the Braehead shoppers (almost all car owners) would.

I wish the selection of fresh vegetables, eggs and meats in the Tesco Locals was better - it's really limited and boring after awhile. We usually only do Tesco Local to pick up a ready meal or do a desperate top-up.

Online shopping experiences have been mostly okay - the delivery drivers in my area are punctual and mostly sensible about substitutions - but I have had an experience where the online system wouldn't accept a valid coupon code, which was annoying.

DH and I have been getting more into Aldi and Lidl lately. The prices are attractive, but the stores are also quiet. You feel like you can actually think when you're in there, because there's not as much noise.

Someone mentioned having a pregnancy test subbed for a more expensive one, they wouldnt have been charged more for it, it has to be the price you'd have paid for the other one or less so they should have been grateful for the more expensive type instead.