Tesco must be considered the corporate success of the last 20 years. They have moved from cheap back-street outfit to the undisputed heavyweight champion of the retailing world. Their buying power matches even that of Walmart, yet their service offering beats their rivals hands down. How have they done this – through the mystic power of marketing.
Tesco have made sure that they have a firm grip on all of the elements of the marketing mix. While their rivals were trying to outdo each other with promotional tactics like getting ex-Pythons to shout at us, Tesco remembered that it is essential to get the other 6 P’s right. There are seven steps to marketing heaven:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Physical Evidence
People
Process
Going through all of these is the stuff of long books, but in a nutshell Tesco have been able to exert almost total control over all of the 7 P’s of the marketing mix… except for one. If only it weren’t for those pesky people...
As much as you train staff and as hard as you try to keep them motivated, they still do their own thing. Humans are individuals and do not always act according to plan. Whatever Tesco have tried, they still can not ensure a totally smooth customer experience as long as we have to deal with their staff.
The solution? Get rid of them!
First came the home delivery service – the only human contact was the driver who dropped your bags off. However, some customers still insist on shopping in-store and so risking speaking to a check-out attendant. So let’s remove that nightmare…
The self-service check-out has recently made it to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. OK, we’re not exactly at the cutting edge of progress here, but it is a new one on me. Is it any quicker than having an attendant swipe my shopping? No chance – for a solo shopper it is a nightmare to swipe then have to go and pack. Does it make it a more pleasurable experience? No.
What it does do is remove that human contact, that risk in Tesco’s well-oiled marketing machine. The danger that a member of staff may say “Hello mate” instead of “Hello sir” is finally gone.
The fact that one staff member now supervises four tills instead of one is no bad thing for their bottom line either. What I want to know is, if I am now working as a check-out assistant at Tesco, will I get double-time on a Sunday?
Simon Brandon Website Design and Marketing is a highly skilled web specialist, based in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Most of our clients are around the East Midlands – Derby, Leicester, Burton-on-Trent and Swadlincote.
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