Tesco is looking to expand its click & collect services across a raft of third party online sellers in a bid to gain a competitive advantage over the likes of Amazon.
A year after launching its online Marketplace, Tesco has struggled to build a base of big names to rival its pure play competition. But more than 30 sellers are now among those supplying Tesco Direct’s 250,000 lines and the retailer sees click & collect - part of a new ‘Delivered by Tesco’ service intended to rival Amazon’s ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ - as a way to boost that.
“Click & collect has been offered to us as an option by Tesco and we’re looking at it as it may be a way to increase sales,” said one Marketplace supplier, although he added: “It would also pose us some issues as it requires us to do things logistically that we’ve never done before.”
Joan Themans, MD of cooking products company Cooking Marvellous, which sells 1,000 lines through Tesco and plans to ramp it up to 5,000 this year, said sales had risen sharply since it signed up to Delivered by Tesco last month. “It has proved very popular and is certainly adding to our volume of orders.”
Another supplier said: “We would certainly be happier if there were more suppliers on the site and it was higher profile. Tesco has a huge store network and it could give it an advantage in that respect over Amazon.”
Tesco said that as well as offering the new delivery option, it was also rewarding shoppers with Clubcard points on all third-party purchases.
Its biggest focus was on extending core categories such as technology, lighting and toys, it said. “As well as bringing well-known high street brands to our platform - we are also enabling family-run businesses such as Cooking Marvellous to showcase their products to Tesco’s large customer base,” added partnership director Ian Caminsky.
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