Tesco's partnership with the government to set up instore internet cafes is a key part of its strategy to boost sales at its online shopping arm, said Tesco.com chief executive John Browett. While helping to fulfil the government's commitment to providing internet access for all, Tesco.com will also benefit from the scheme. Browett said customers without computers at home would use the terminals as internet ordering points for Tesco goods not available in store, such as electrical items, while the extra footfall generated by the scheme would drive instore sales. "This is the perfect example of a public/private partnership. It would have cost the government a fortune to set up independently. Ultimately these could go in every store." Surfers will pay £1 for half an hour on the web and get free net training provided by further education colleges. Both parties contributed £1m to the scheme, due to launch in the spring in areas where internet penetration lags the south east, such as Dundee, Newcastle, Cardiff, Loughborough, and Coventry. Successful marketing of the new women's online portal iVillage.co.uk, another prong in Tesco's strategy to boost online sales, has already made it the leading women's site in the UK with 340,000 hits a month, ahead of more established players handbag.com and iCircle, claimed Browett. "We've already seen a stream of customers come from iVillage to Tesco." A series of minor improvements to the site has also made Tesco.com easier to navigate, while the price check facility was putting paid to "popular misconceptions" that Asda is always cheaper than Tesco, he added. He rejected claims in a recent Mintel report on online grocery retailing that a "nightmare scenario" loomed for retailers as their most profitable customers migrate to their internet shopping arms leaving the least profitable "casual buyers" and "bargain hunters" to shop instore. All the evidence suggests Tesco.com is poaching big spending customers from retailers without an online presence rather than simply cannibalising its own store sales, said Browett. - The South Korean online service should be up and running by the end of the year. {{NEWS }}

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