Tesco Direct to cease trading
UK supermarket Tesco has announced that its non-food website Tesco Direct will cease trading on 9 July, and it intends to close the Fenny Lock fulfilment centre that handles Tesco Direct orders.
In a statement issued yesterday (22 May), the company said: “Despite its best efforts, there is no route to profitability for this small, loss-making part of the business.
“Tesco Direct has faced a number of significant challenges, including high costs for fulfilment and online marketing, which have prevented it from delivering a sustainable offer as a standalone non-food business.”
About 500 staff will be at risk of redundancy as a result.
The company plans to focus its e-commerce on a single online platform, Tesco.com.
Charles Wilson, CEO of Tesco UK & ROI, commented: “We want to offer our customers the ability to buy groceries and non-food products in one place and that’s why we are focusing our investment into one online platform.
“This decision has been a very difficult one to make, but it is an essential step towards establishing a more sustainable non-food offer and growing our business for the future.”
