tescoe xtra glasgow

Sir: Tesco posting the worst results in British business history (‘Tesco store staff ‘could not cope’ with online boom,’ 24 April) will certainly go down in history as the UK retailer’s worst day. CEO Dave Lewis said Tesco has spent the last six months putting the customer back at the centre of everything they do - so how had they allowed themselves to take their eye off the customer ball?

Tesco says it is now focusing on the fundamentals of availability, service and targeted price reductions. However, just focusing on service and price cannot be the key drivers for Tesco. Retailing today is all about truly understanding the customer forensically - placing them at the centre of a retail proposition and building the core components of differentiation, assortment availability and service based around customer data. 

The greatest irony is that Tesco created the retail CRM rulebook with the country’s first customer loyalty scheme - if only they had kept CRM at the heart of their growth strategy.

Donal MacDaid, VP marketing supply chain, Symphony EYC