Love the new packaging, and it's fascinating reading about all the new ideas being tried out. I particularly liked the idea of trolleys having a holder for a coffee whilst you are shopping. It's really good to see a supermarket experimenting, and not just focussing on value and cutting overheads - both of which I find particularly offputting about Tesco.
I must say as well - your comments here are fascinating. I thought I was the only one who took such a borderline obsessive interest in things like this.
Yet another Morrisons thread
Tesco's price war is indeed a joke. They're pushing the fact their packs of two chicken breasts are now down to £2.50, which is indeed cheap. However to pay for this they've hiked all the other chicken, including the free-range corn-fed skin-on breasts which actually used to be the cheapest per/kg (due to the hassle of taking the skin off).
The same has occurred elsewhere such as in milk, all other offers have vanished to pay for the two minor drops. Also in fizzy juice the only real drop appears to be own brand cherryade (down 4p) whereas all the others remained at the same price.
Absolute joke.
I'd also have to agree with their shoddy fixtures and fittings in Tesco. The whole place just reeks of cheapness. It's always Tesco that have the leaky roofs and leaky fridges that they wait ages to replace / repair. One thing I do admire about Tesco though is their embracing of new technology in places. Every single strip light in the fridges has been replaced with LED versions and I didn't even notice until I actually looked carefully at them.
Tesco's counters are also the poorest of all the shops. Even Asda appear to have staff actually interacting with the customers. Tesco just seem to employ people to hand over their shoddy quality products.
The same has occurred elsewhere such as in milk, all other offers have vanished to pay for the two minor drops. Also in fizzy juice the only real drop appears to be own brand cherryade (down 4p) whereas all the others remained at the same price.
Absolute joke.
I'd also have to agree with their shoddy fixtures and fittings in Tesco. The whole place just reeks of cheapness. It's always Tesco that have the leaky roofs and leaky fridges that they wait ages to replace / repair. One thing I do admire about Tesco though is their embracing of new technology in places. Every single strip light in the fridges has been replaced with LED versions and I didn't even notice until I actually looked carefully at them.
Tesco's counters are also the poorest of all the shops. Even Asda appear to have staff actually interacting with the customers. Tesco just seem to employ people to hand over their shoddy quality products.
"He has to be larger than bacon"
I heard Lincoln had the same but it's student population centric isn't it?Interesting. I've yet to see it myself, but JS have been experimenting with a "Fresh Kitchen" counter too (not to be confused with the City-shops they're also trialling with the same name). So far I think it's only gone in XXL stores (which apparently does not include the reduced-size Savacentres) - Lincoln being the only one that comes to mind.
I'm not really sold on the idea though, I've got to be honest. I might pay £3 for a lasagne portion at a nice cafe but I wouldn't pay that to take home. Frankly, whenever it looks like a meal might cost £4 per head I sort of think "in for a penny, in for a pound" and just get a takeaway. I rarely do ready meals though as I'd far prefer to knock up a simple pasta or something so perhaps I'm not the target customer.
Your coverage of the Tesco phoney war has been interesting. Interesting too that you perceive their bricks and mortar quality as decreasing - I only really 'do' Tesco in Nottingham (their presence in Sheffield is almost completely useless for my needs), and their stores around here are pretty good all told (not that I like them, just not so obviously crummy as you describe). I don't necessarily object to lots of 10p savings across £1-£2 items (a 5% saving is not to be scoffed at), but yeah the usual 4p off a £15 bottle of Vodka for my mind represents a lack of respect for their customer's intelligence.
I expect this Christmas could be quite telling as to Tesco's future - I think you're bang on in saying it's not at all clear what they're about - Asda have 'everyday' value; Morrisons have freshness; Waitrose have superior quality; Sainsbury's concentrate on service and trust, inspiring and exciting their customers (but see my next point)... what do Tesco do?
I think you're a little off the mark though when you say about JS continuing to focus on quality. Exhibit A. I think the focus has changed, and it's less about pushing Taste the Difference (indeed, the range has shrunk somewhat in most store formats with the recent relaunches) and more about an overall promise of decent quality food at a good price. My friend still in the company was reeling off some figures about independent research revealing that of the 'big 4' only Sainsbury's was found to be accurately listing ingredients - I've no idea how good this research is but it gives you an idea of where their competitive focus is at present. Note the transition in slogans too:
"making life taste better" (my personal favourite still) sounds decidedly Waitrose by today's standards
"Try Something New Today" - generally along the same lines but more accessible
"Live Well for Less" - in line with what I'm talking about
You make an interesting point on Tesco, I can only comment on what I see around by me in Bradford / Leeds and some of the stores is poor. It's (relatively) well known they didn't bother investing in store repairs for 18 months as they dare not under report profits.... Their problem is that the problem is bigger and even if the fabric of the store is good, the actual internal environment, service and queue time are unacceptable.
I agree on JS, I think feed a family was a tactic to make them price competitive but their quality push continues to be evident, they know their food is good but they need to make people see that it's not that much more expensive. They definitely want to have mass appeal, hence the price campaigns.
Customer service is out of the window, can't remember last time anyone was remotely friendly in there.
The price drop too, my word..
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scottishtv
- Posts: 743
- Joined: Thu 01 Apr, 2004 15.36
- Location: Edinburgh
Really interested in the last few posts about Tesco. There's also been a bit about them in The Guardian (and elsewhere) today about poor financial results expected tomorrow.
Most telling in that article is the bit about their pricing. Looks like Tesco is being finally found out about some of their techniques. I've long been suspicious of them, the way they raise the price of bread for a couple of weeks then offer it at a 'discount' a few weeks later. Meaningless terms like "Special Purchase" which are products offering no discount whatsoever also appearing all over stores for a while. It's put me right off them, not that I really liked Tesco much anyway.
Just goes to show you can't really go for the big and cheap strategy whilst trying to remain everything to everybody without hitting some major problems. A couple of things on pricing strategy I noticed in my Tesco shop last week:
- Value prepared salad more expensive than some normal own brand prepared salad
- Tesco brand mixed nuts and raisins (250g) is cheaper than their own disgusting discount brand Centennial equivalent (200g)
- Comfort fabric softener (750ml) is £1.80, whilst 1.5L of the same is £2.00, an easy one to explain but so annoying when I just hoped for a good price on the smaller one.
There were others too, but it surely can't be good sign when your customers are suspicious and confused by your prices and start wondering what your product ranges stand for. I go in with the attitude that they are trying to con me and look at every price with caution, something I don't really do so much in other supermarkets (maybe I should). Don't get me started on them not selling 6-pack multipacks of Coke. I don't want 8 cans - the 6 pack was fine. Arrrgh!
Most telling in that article is the bit about their pricing. Looks like Tesco is being finally found out about some of their techniques. I've long been suspicious of them, the way they raise the price of bread for a couple of weeks then offer it at a 'discount' a few weeks later. Meaningless terms like "Special Purchase" which are products offering no discount whatsoever also appearing all over stores for a while. It's put me right off them, not that I really liked Tesco much anyway.
Just goes to show you can't really go for the big and cheap strategy whilst trying to remain everything to everybody without hitting some major problems. A couple of things on pricing strategy I noticed in my Tesco shop last week:
- Value prepared salad more expensive than some normal own brand prepared salad
- Tesco brand mixed nuts and raisins (250g) is cheaper than their own disgusting discount brand Centennial equivalent (200g)
- Comfort fabric softener (750ml) is £1.80, whilst 1.5L of the same is £2.00, an easy one to explain but so annoying when I just hoped for a good price on the smaller one.
There were others too, but it surely can't be good sign when your customers are suspicious and confused by your prices and start wondering what your product ranges stand for. I go in with the attitude that they are trying to con me and look at every price with caution, something I don't really do so much in other supermarkets (maybe I should). Don't get me started on them not selling 6-pack multipacks of Coke. I don't want 8 cans - the 6 pack was fine. Arrrgh!
I notice even on the "Price per KG" bits they need to have under the main ticket they're sneaky and sometimes do another one next to it as "Price per 100g." I've always compared those bits rather than the item price as they often have the medium one cheaper.
Also value shortbread is cheaper than standard, however the box also happens to be half the size, so per 100g its more expensive.
Also value shortbread is cheaper than standard, however the box also happens to be half the size, so per 100g its more expensive.
"He has to be larger than bacon"
These sort of problems exist across the board though, unfortunately 
you just have to have your wits about you and exile any sort of default logic you may believe exists.
Sainsbury's are the worst with this, in my opinion - they have lots of "Bigger Pack, Better Value" marked stuff like a 5kg bag of Basmati but when you look at the price per kilo there's barely a few pence in it.
I think Martin Lewis is a bit of a tosser at times, but what he says about not treating shops like they're our friend is spot on - treat it like a war between yourself and the total on the receipt and you'll go far.
you just have to have your wits about you and exile any sort of default logic you may believe exists.Sainsbury's are the worst with this, in my opinion - they have lots of "Bigger Pack, Better Value" marked stuff like a 5kg bag of Basmati but when you look at the price per kilo there's barely a few pence in it.
I think Martin Lewis is a bit of a tosser at times, but what he says about not treating shops like they're our friend is spot on - treat it like a war between yourself and the total on the receipt and you'll go far.
Good example of Tesco's mission to confuse the customer.... I was in one of their branches today where near the front of the store 1 litre bottles of Pepsi were £1.30 buy one get one free, yet at the back of the store 2 litre bottles of Pepsi were £1.
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all new Phil
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: Sun 13 Feb, 2005 00.04
- Location: Next door to Hell
Tesco never feels like a happy place - I think that's why I've never been a fan. Asda, Morrisons, and to a slightly lesser extent Sainsburys seem to have happier staff (and more of them). My experience in my nearest large Tesco includes staff arguing and swearing at each other down one of the aisles, constant barking over the tannoy ("RED CALL TO CHECKOUTS" all the pissing time), and the poor old dear on her own trying to juggle 8 self-scan tills when it is busy. It all leads to a bad atmosphere where people shopping get bad tempered and take it out on the staff, making things even worse. I hate it when it's busy and now only ever go there late at night when it's pretty much empty (even though they switch half the lights off).
Whilst this is a Morrisons thread, there are fleeting mentions of Asda, I've just done a blog on them and their issues, it may be a bit retail heavy but hopefully you'll be nodding along at the photographs I've taken...
Does anyone else find this bit of POS really annoying?
It definitely looks more promising than the older packaging that did seem to smack of cheapness. I take it this is occurring across the estate and not just in the fancy new stores? Might take a trip up to Dundee morrisons to have a try. I've always felt Morrisons own brand ready meals had been distinctly sub-par.
"He has to be larger than bacon"
Yes, the fact the two sets of text face the oposite direction jumped out at me stright away.Pete wrote:Does anyone else find this bit of POS really annoying?
*whistle*
