Diversification of TESCO store system

Tesco is a British chain of hyper- and supermarkets as of today, it counts as the 5th largest chain of grocery and general merchandise in terms of revenue. While the first Tesco store was started back in 1919, today Tesco has literally thousands of stores of all kind in 12 countries of the world. While originally it was founded as the best option for those who are looking for lower priced goods for the same quality, today Tesco is also selling premium quality products.

Next to selling grocery products, Tesco today has its own chain of petrol stations. Restaurants and it has also started its telecommunications range.

In this chapter we would like to talk a little bit more on the diverse format of stores in which Tesco is selling its goods today.

Today we do not only find Tesco stores in form of a hypermarket. The chain is present in the market with the below types of stores:

• Tesco Extra: the largest type of hypermarket which is also called as hypermarket city, generally located in out of town or suburban shopping areas. The Tesco Extra stores are generally found in the largest cities throughout Europe mainly. These stores are selling all sorts of merchandise one can imagine and they oftentimes come with a Tesco restaurant and with a Tesco petrol station too. Today, you can get to buy anything in such a Tesco hypermarket from dairy products to newspapers, books, or car tyres.

• Tesco Superstores: There is not a huge difference between the Superstore and the Extra format as both of them are hypermarkets and the Superstores also come with the Tesco petrol station. The superstores can often be found in the outer lying areas, or suburban areas of larger or mid-sized cities.

• Tesco Metro: it’s more of a supermarket smaller than a superstore and these are specialized on train stations, airports and other major transportation hubs in order to appeal to the crowd who is spending a great deal of their time commuting and for travellers as well. The Tesco Metro stores sell only a fragment of the range of Tesco goods, especially grocery products.

• Tesco Express: This is a smaller grocery store format which is selling products for higher prices. Tesco Express stores are generally located in smaller towns, villages, rural areas but they can also be found in busier city areas. They also operate by offering mainly key grocery products which people need to generally buy on a daily basis. The Tesco Express format has started recently but it’s proving to be quite successful, despite the slightly elevated prices.

• One Stop: this is the most recent format of Tesco stores and this is the only type which does not include Tesco in its name. One Stop stores can generally be found in the UK only, specialized to smaller towns, villages and rural areas. Similarly to Tesco Express, they offer products at an elevated price.

Online stores: the online store system with delivery has been working with success in the past few years.