Tesco on the street

Steve Smith, Starcom MediaVest Group, highlights some of the conclusions from a study of people’s experiences of shopping at Tesco…

The Street is Starcom MediaVest’s online community of around sixty people up and down the country whom we ask to discuss topics about anything related to shopping, brands, technologies and media.

We recently posted a topic to the Street, asking about members’ experiences of shopping at Tesco. Twenty nine Tesco shoppers took part in the discussion, with six themes emerging:

In-store experiences

“There are lots of queues at Tesco checkouts. ASDA have a system where someone points to where a checkout spaces is. I think this is a great idea to help reduce queues.” (Lorna, 26)

In-store experiences (alongside customer/staff interactions, below) are Street members’ main concerns, especially around stock availability, queues and tills. For example, older people and mums highlight the difficulty in using self-service tills at Tesco’s smaller stores, and so making more staffed tills available would benefit them significantly. Other people mention cluttered and narrow aisles, whilst still others highlight stores that are “drab” and “dated”. These comments show that although prices are important to customers, so are other factors that will make people’s experiences more pleasurable.

Fundamental to providing good in-store experiences (and customer/staff interactions, below) is establishing what the Tesco brand is and then putting customers at the centre of the Tesco brand. Street members often compare their Tesco experiences with those they have at other retailers, and so the supermarket would do well to investigate these. What brands from within and outside of retail provide the kinds of experiences Tesco wants to provide? Examples might come from airlines or the hospitality industry.

Customer/staff interactions

“The staff in Boots really impress me as they make me feel like a valued customer – always willing to help, and they actually smile. I think some of the staff in my ‘Metro’ need to brush upon their customer service skills.” (Abigail, 34)

Tesco has already announced sizeable investment in new staff and training. The research shows that customers want to feel welcome, and want staff that are approachable and ready and willing to help. Fundamentally, they want staff that live the Tesco brand. Customers want to be at the centre of what Tesco does and then for the supermarket to work out from there.

By doing these things and then communicating them in its marketing, Tesco will help create differentiation from its competitors, retain customers and draw in new customers. As with customers’ in-store experiences, Tesco should thoroughly investigate what its shoppers expect and what they enjoy about interactions with staff from other brands within and outside of retail.

Products

“If Tesco can deliver a good shopping experience and quality, and support good causes etc, then excellent.” (Danielle, 30)

Street members who shop at Tesco are impressed with the quality and range of Tesco products, from food through to clothing, homeware and electrical. Quality and range of Tesco products are therefore a huge selling point that the supermarket has underplayed in its marketing due to its focus on price. Although supporting good causes and advancing its green credentials take second place to quality, price and customer services in the minds of Tesco shoppers on the Street, they still remain important to them. Some Street members question the supermarket’s motivation for supporting these, and so Tesco could do more to show that its reasons for doing so are authentic. For example, members cite the option that Waitrose gives to customers for choosing which charities and good causes to give.

Clubcard

“I am completely loyal to Tesco as I avidly collect Clubcard points… The Rewards have enabled us to experience things which we otherwise would have felt out of our price range.” (Lottie, 34)

Clubcard is one of the main reasons Street members give for shopping at the supermarket. On the one hand, this shows how some of them believe the supermarket lacks in significant areas such around customer service. If Clubcard was taken away, how many customers would Tesco lose? On the other hand, Tesco can do more to promote Clubcard in its marketing, and the opportunities to shoppers for collecting and spending Clubcard points. The research also shows that Tesco can use data more carefully in order to match Clubcard product offers with what customers want to buy. Clubcard also provides opportunities to tie up purchase history with their likelihood to buy other Tesco products and services such as insurance and electricals.

Prices and deals

“There are lots of special offers, all in the one place, so it’s handy rather than having to look around for the bargains.” (Louise, 24)

Street members are positive about the new Everyday value range, and generally find that Tesco prices are competitive. Some people find the Tesco Price Check reassuring, but some are suspicious about claims around prices and offers. This indicates that Tesco could do more to be transparent in its offers and make sure people see that they are genuine. Some Street members shop around looking for deals despite what they say about Tesco’s offers and low prices. This behaviour is another reason for Tesco to improve things such as customer experience in order to make customers more ‘sticky’.

Convenience

“I like the fact that it is close to where I live and I can ‘pop’ in when I’ve run out of groceries etc.” (Sian, 44)

Street members who shop at Tesco are overwhelmingly impressed with the convenience of shopping at the supermarket. Despite widely reported resistance to new supermarket stores, these comments show there are opportunities for Tesco to promote the convenience of local Tesco stores more greatly. Tesco can also look to promote further convenience by publicizing more of its services to shoppers, such as banking, pharmacy, opticians and travel.

There are nevertheless, Street members who are critical of Tesco opening up new stores on the high street. The supermarket is able to help counter such criticisms by strongly promoting the positive benefits Tesco is able to bring to local communities beyond just jobs.

For more insight around supermarkets, visit www.emergingspaces.co.uk