Sir: I really hope Dave Lewis can turn the boat around (Leader, 13 December, p3). However, while Tesco has picked up on two core issues - a reliance on non-trading margin and lack of key shop floor facing staff, it has failed to announce any new supply chain initiatives. A typical Tesco promotion uplift in core stores is roughly half that for its key competitors.
Numerous trials show that very modest increases in targeted front-end stock in stores on day one rewards brands and Tesco with mega increases overall, coupled with less post-promotion hangover. Supporters of this approach in Tesco, however, are very hard to find.
When the second-biggest issue online is lack of stock, it is convenient to blame this on store staff when they can only move what they are given.
Colin Harper, MD, retailvitalstatistics.com
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