Tesco-E-Business

tesco-E-business, considered as part of supply chain management and also a very important component of marketing and retail business nowadays, could be seen as one way to consolidate resources among Tesco’s 3000+ stores within UK. Its own way of deploying modern e-technology is quite a successful example for people to study and it could be divided into two parts: sell-side e-commerce and buy-side e-commerce which could be easily understood from a customer’s point of view and the perspective of suppliers.

3.1 Sell side e-commerce

Chaffey, D (2009) mentioned that there are several types of sell-side commerce which among these, Tesco could fall into all of those types which means it develops a web-based e-commerce model that combines different features of sell-side e-commerce to suit different needs of customers. The characteristics of the following four types of e-commerce model could also be intermediary of e-marketing that serves the some of the functions of 7P’s (marketing mix) (Lancaster & Withey, 2006).

Those types are:

1. Websites that enables customers to search and order directly.

According to the website of Tesco (UK), it categorises its products into many sections which make it easier for customers to search and find out what they need or interested in. It provides product specifications, packaging (through sample pictures), updated discounts, news, events and also member award, etc which makes information all consolidated into one site. Based on shopping history, Tesco also sends out customised offers via email, using cookies(in PC) to store the regular shopping items to minimise the process of ordering which gives the site more capability of accepting orders (Harris & Dennis, 2008). In the report of Jones, et al (2005), UK’s top food retailers are increasingly extending their business into non-food sectors, so it is very important to well-arrange their product category online to make customers and their current or potential suppliers’...