From CUK News
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The biggest research project in Tesco’s history wasn’t researched thoroughly enough following reports that the supermarket’s debut in the US was marred by an IT glitch.
Disclosures obtained by a Sunday paper reveal the company’s six stores in California suffered big gaps on-shelf as their IT systems didn’t recognise the need to restock.
The monitoring system at Fresh & Easy stores failed to calculate what was considered ‘low’ stock because the new shops didn’t have enough historical data for comparison.
The chain of stores, which Tesco researched for two years before launch, is highly automated to keep down costs and compete with US-based competitors on price.
In line with this strategy, some back office functions have been outsourced offshore to India, The Mail on Sunday reported yesterday.
Defending the IT glitch, Tesco told the paper stock levels had been a problem, but it had noted “high demand” for own-brand items, some of which are manufactured locally.
Separately, the supermarket giant says its trial US store – Hemet – was successful in testing systems and operations, and attracted hundreds of thousands of customers.
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DJ Comment:
This is by far the largest of the UK supermarkets with almost a 1/3 share of the total 'trolley' budget and yet their IT budget is about 1% (!) of their profits. Not surprised by the news, we are talking here about 'Ice-age' technology with outmoded systems, archaic mainframes and outsourcing to death to increase even more profitability. To anyone that complains about their tactics, they say 'Our customers vote with their feet', but so do Ryanair and all the rest of the bunch. It seems that the majority in the UK don't care how they are treated as long as the price is right, however the same is not true for Americans. Customer care is paramount. We shall see.
