The launch of Tesco’s marketplace has increased the available SKUs on Tesco.com by more than a third, The Grocer analysis has found.
Following the launch of the marketplace model – where third party products appear alongside Tesco groceries on Tesco.com and the Tesco app, but are fulfilled directly by the supplier – the supermarket’s total online SKU count has risen from 28,018 to 38,070: an increase of 36%.
At launch, around 9,000 SKUs became available on marketplace, a count that has already risen to more than 10,000.
The new marketplace products – which are fulfilled by 18 different suppliers – cover 10 categories. Some have been minimally represented on Tesco shelves until the launch – such as garden, DIY, toys, sports & leisure, and furniture. Others – such as pet, baby, and laundry & cleaning – already have a healthy selection.
Home accessories, garden & DIY, and cook & dine (homeware) have the most SKUs in the new marketplace.
Several long-standing categories have seen their SKU count significantly expanded by the marketplace model. For example, some 739 petcare SKUs are offered for delivery direct from Tesco, while 931 have been added for fulfilment via marketplace partners. The 952 health and beauty products available from Tesco.com has swelled to 1,291 with the addition of marketplace products.
When it reaches full scale, the marketplace will make Tesco.com “a one-stop shop for everything customers need” the supermarket said last week.
Peter Filcek, marketplace director at Tesco, told The Grocer the marketplace’s range and supplier base “should be increasing quickly over the summer” and would scale up “as quickly as we’re comfortable with”.
“We’re now able to meet really quantified customer demand in a way that we could never mobilise a retail supply chain to do. So we’ll go where the customers tell us to go, where the opportunities are,” Filcek added.
The marketplace appears to be proving popular with customers, with several products already showing as out of stock. Already, special offers have been applied to 299 SKUs.
Experts predict Tesco will soon move into other categories, beyond those at launch.
“The range is limited for now, but I doubt there is anyone who doesn’t expect it to grow, and quickly,” said Gregor Murray of Digital Commerce Global. “I expect that clothing, small electrical and gifting will be added shortly, and some broader food categories within the next year to 18 months.
“Following the successes of marketplace offerings from Amazon, Walmart, Carrefour, Decathlon, B&Q, BestBuy, Kroger and Macy’s it really is no surprise that Tesco’s have launched their own,” Murray said. “The fact that they are later to the game than others is irrelevant. Their website traffic is so significant that adoption will soon be comparable and then exceeding much longer-established platforms.”
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