Everything under one roof (Tesco)

Member Name: Pilotgavw

Product:	Tesco
Date:	11/09/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clubcard deals are a great bonus

Disadvantages: none

Out of all the major supermarket chains, Tesco is by far my favourate. Not only are there hundreds of stores in very convenient locations, but they have a huge selection of products to choose. In recent years, Tesco has expanded its empire to countries outside of europe, starting the 'Fresh & Easy' brand in the United States, and has ventured into far more than just the food market, creating its own successful clothing and electrical brands.

The Tesco supermarket is split up into a number of different types of store, depending on the quantity of products sold as well as the types of product. At present there are 4 main category of store carrying the tesco branding which are:

Tesco Extra - These store are considered 'ultra-large' store, many of which have a 60:40 split of non-food items to food, some even having 70:30.
Tesco Superstore - These are the standard supermarket which sell mostly food stuffs and other disposable household products, with a few additional items such as clothing and electrical goods.
Tesco Metro - Designed for inner-city residents, these stores provide primarily food products in densely populated areas.
Tesco Express - These are the smallest store of the Tesco brand, providing essential items for shoppers and often coming attached to petrol stations such as Esso.

The Tesco value range is a food or domestic product, created to serve the 'No-frills' end of the market and I must say something which I purchase quite a lot. The packaging is often not much more than a plain box with the item name printed on the front, which for most people is of no concern including myself. The food products vary in quality in this range, with some being almost inedible such as the Value Baked Beans (in my opinion, however, my wife loves them), to some being almost as good as the branded products, such as the buscuits.

The Tesco branding doesn't just stop at the lower end of the market with the Value range, but also includes the high end of the market, with is 'Finest' range. This provides their own products at their best, however, the price you pay is often more than the well known brands. Items in this range tend to have a twist as well, being a little different or unusual, for example, the sausages in this range are ones such as 'Pork and Brambly apple'.

Tesco also has its own clothing designer label, known as 'Florence and Fred' or 'F&F', which provides reasonably fashionable clothing at very good prices. They also produce clothes in the Value range, which, is again definitely 'no-frills', with a pair of blue Jeans costing a mear £3 which by anyones standards is cheap, but they are as basic as basic gets. Other items in this range include plain white tee-shirts, socks, etc.

As well as having all this located in thier stores, Tesco has branched out into the finance world, now offering insurance for your home, car, pet or travel, which in my experience has never been the cheapest on the market if your prepared to shop around. They also offer breakdown cobver for your car in association with Green Flag cover, this is very good value, recently I had the Tesco Finest option giving every option possible for a small price of £65, bargin.

One of the biggest benefits of shopping with Tesco is the Clubcard, this is a loyalty scheme which rewards people for buying from Tesco. It operates by giving the customer 1 clubcard point for every pound spent in store, with no limit on the total. These are then sent out in the form of vouchers quarterly where 1 point = 1 pence, which can be used in store or online, alternatively you can exchange them for clubcard deal options where 1 point = 4 pence. The clubcard deals also allow you to exchange them for 'Goldsmiths' Vouchers again where 1 point = 4 pence so saving £50 in clubcard vouchers could buy you a £200 watch, definitely my favourate deal of them all.

Overall Tesco is a fantastic company, which has changed the way in which supermarkets do business and the way we all shop. I will continue to shop here for the forseeable future.

Summary: Fantastic!