I was pretty concerned by Tesco loss of market share. My first thought was: What’s gone wrong with Tesco?
But Tesco is not having a “bad” performance, they’re growing, but behind the market. The grocery market is growing 3.2% and Tesco 2.1%. Sainsbury’s and the discounters are bringing the growth to the market. So good enough is not enough in the competitive market of the grocery in UK.
Aldi and Lidl present a double digit growth thanks to the change in the shopper habits that starting to consider the discounters as a place for the weekly shopping. I would like to have this growth without the impact of the sales in the new supermarkets that they’ve opened last year.
The other winner is Sainsbury’s, which has achieved 0.4% market share more than the PY. Thanks to the Paralympics sponsorship, Brand Match and own-label investment.
Tesco have to react very fast, they might invest in the two fastest growing grocery channels: online and convenience. But for now they’re promoting a very similar concept to Carrefour Planet in the rest of Europe. The new Tesco in Watford is the jewel for Tesco’s UK operations. It would be great if they can apply some aspects around the full country as Chirs Bush has noted. They’re having a very good engagement with the customers, please check #watfood in Twitter.