Tesco.com

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**Tesco.com**

Frontpage, 20 February 2007.
URL	www.tesco.com
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Online retailer
Available language(s):	English
Owner	Tesco
Created by	Tesco
Launched	2000
Current status	Active

Tesco.com is an electronic commerce website operated by Tesco. As well as being the world's largest online grocery retailer, it offers a wide range of other products, including electronic goods, books, broadband and financial services.

Tesco has operated on the Internet since 1994 and started a online shopping service named 'Tesco Direct' in 1997. Tesco.com was formally launched in 2000. It also has online operations in the Republic of Ireland and South Korea. Grocery sales are available within delivery range of selected stores, goods being hand-picked within each store, in contrast to the warehouse model followed by Ocado. This model, which is now used by Sainsbury's, allows rapid expansion with limited investment, but has been criticised for a high level of substitutions. Nevertheless, it has been popular and is the largest online grocery service in the world. In 2003, tesco.com's CEO at the time, John Browett, received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for the innovative processes he used to support this online grocery service.

In 2001 Tesco invested in GroceryWorks, a joint venture with the American Safeway Inc. (who had long since sold-off their UK subsidiary and Tesco's former rival, Safeway plc), operating in the United States and Canada. GroceryWorks has stepped into the void left by the collapse of Webvan, but did not expand as fast as initially expected and Tesco sold its stake to Safeway Inc in 2006.^[1]

Concerned with poor web response times (in 1996, broadband was virtually unknown in the UK), Tesco offered a CDROM-based off-line ordering program which would connect only to download stock lists and send orders. This was in addition to, rather than instead of, ordering via web forms, but was withdrawn in 2000.

Tesco claimed in its 2005 annual report to be able to serve 98% of the UK population from its 300 participating stores. In the financial year ended 25 February 2006 it recorded online sales up 31.9% to £948 million and profit up 54.9% to £56.2 million. ^[2]

Tesco launched its first home shopping catalogue in autumn 2006, as another channel for sales of its non-food ranges. This is integrated with the internet operation, with both channels being branded as "Tesco Direct".^[3]

Tesco launched an advertising campaign for its internet phone, marketing the service to customers by offering free calls to all other Tesco internet phone customers.

On 1 October 2006, Tesco announced that it will be selling six own-brand budget software packages for under £20 each, including office and security suites, in a partnership with software firm Formjet ^[4]. As Formjet is exclusive distributor for Panda Software and Ability Plus Software, packages from these companies are likely to feature.