Tuesday 24 September 2013

In Praise of Tesco.

Tesco is Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, and it’s known for… erm… how should I put this? Pushing the boundaries of the corporate mentality? Let’s be into euphemisms tonight, just for the sake of being kind to Tesco.

So why should I want to be kind to Tesco? Well, because they’re being kind to us, we poor shoppers groaning under the weight of grocery bills rising faster than inflation, while real-terms income is being eroded by Mr Cameron’s ‘we’re all in this together’ spending cuts. Here’s the story:

Tesco has launched its own cheap tablet, a mere snip at £119. The tablet market (or should that be segment?) is growing, and there’s still plenty of space left for a bit of entrepreneurial opportunism. You might be tempted to think, therefore, that Tesco’s motive had rather a lot to do with making a bit more profit to add to their current billions, and paying their wealthy directors, executives and shareholders even more in bonuses and dividends, mightn’t you? Well you’d be wrong, see. This is what their CEO has to say on the matter:

"We feel the time is right for Tesco to help widen tablet ownership and bring the fun, convenience and excitement of tablets to even more customers across the UK. The digital revolution should be for the many, not for the few."

So it isn’t about profits at all. It’s about helping; it’s about serving the many, not the few. Tesco, bless them, are in the van of a benign socialist revolution.

Thank you, Tesco; please forgive the misplaced cynicism to which I have been prey all these years. I feel truly contrite.

3 comments:

andrea kiss said...

Its so odd to me that a supermarket would not on sell but manufacture electronics.

Is Tesco strictly a supermarket or do they sell other non food items, like clothing, electronics, etc.? Kind of like what Wal-Mart is here in the US?

andrea kiss said...

Ok... wait. I'm familiar with the word supermarket being interchangeable with grocery store, where mostly food is sold... but i can see supermarket being used for a store like Wal-Mart. Maybe i'm too southern, being from TN and all... heh.

JJ said...

Our supermarkets used to be only grocery stores, but the bigger ones like Tesco and Sainsbury have now branched out into everything from food to clothes to electronics and even finance. Whatever there is to sell, the big boys now want a slice of the pie. Tesco even has its own cellphone network.