Tesco

Go Read This | Tesco’s Blinkbox sees festive sales rise 245% | The Drum

~ Eoin Purcell ~ 1 Comment
From Tesco's published infographic
From Tesco’s published infographic

So Tesco has sold 400,000 tablets in just three months. The company says it is planning a new edition of its HUDL device and that it could have sold even more tablets before Christmas had they had them in stock. It’s interesting in the context of books and my recent post on Barnes & Noble’s Nook troubles that all of these sales took place without an ebook offering to bolster or encourage buyers (Blinkbox books is to launch in 2014, but is not yet live), cementing the very clear evidence that ebooks are not the biggest motivator for tablets (nor were they ever). Some impressive data on increased sales from Blinkbox itself too:

Tesco’s TV and movie streaming service Blinkbox saw sales spike by a massive 245 per cent year-on-year over the festive period…

New Year’s Day was the biggest day ever for the service with sales up by 266 per cent year-on-year, while mobile sales have increased by 674 per cent and smart TV sales by 465 per cent.

Ahead of Christmas, Tesco launched its own Hudl budget tablet and reported sales of 400,000 in the three months to December. The supermarket brand now plans to launch a second edition of the device later in the year.

via Tesco’s Blinkbox sees record festive sales with rise of 245% while mobile sales rocket by 674% | The Drum.

Go Read This | Tesco tablet expected on 23 September

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

Tesco-LogoIt has been clear for some time that probably only full-scale retailers have the capacity to respond to Amazon, Google, Apple and other digital giants. They have the advantages of scale, access to capital, direct customer interaction and customer inertia working in their favour.

Of course, those advantages are threatened by online retailers like Amazon and by the shift to digital consumption of media. It makes sense then that really forward-looking retailers will attempt to move into the digital distribution and retail space. Many of them have been offering online grocery shopping effectively for some time, long before Amazon or other newer entrants. Tesco has been making what look like smart moves in digital media for a while. It will be intriguing to see if this forthcoming tablet play works.

Success, however, cannot be measured by units sold alone. A good sign of it working would be of the company sells lots of tablets AND signs lots of people up to its digital content services. At the kind of price point the articles on the tablet are talking about, content sales and customer acquisition for the digital services are the goal in the short and medium term.

The question that arises for me is what’s the longer term play for Tesco? How can it build on success in the UK (if it materializes) and can it compete with the giants even if it does succeed in the UK. The costs of such competition can be quite hefty, as B&N has learnt to its cost:

Tesco might be able to hit the £99 price using a cashback-style promotion, Wood suggests: “I can see Tesco using substantial discounts on other services such as bundled media from Blinkbox, or vouchers for discounts on petrol or groceries through its ClubCard loyalty scheme.”

The tablet would take on competitors from the likes of Apple, Google and Amazon, and will be tailored to online shopping and video viewing – both areas where Tesco is looking to capitalise on its position.

via Tesco tablet expected on 23 September – and may be very low-priced | Technology | The Guardian.

Go Read This | Sathianathan to head Tesco’s blinkboxbooks | The Bookseller

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

It will be fascinating to see if big retailers (as distinct from booksellers) can further ebook adoption. I suspect they can and probably will, publishers should be hoping so anyway:

Sathianathan said it was a good time to join Tesco and lead its digital book service. “Technology is changing how people read,” he said. “Offering a digital book service is an example of what Tesco does best – focusing on the customer and anticipating their needs as the market evolves.”

via Sathianathan to head Tesco’s blinkboxbooks | The Bookseller.

Random House & Tesco team up to make a book club

~ Eoin Purcell ~ 2 Comments

Eoin Purcell

I’d like to say I saw this coming
But that would not be true. In fact it is only in retrospect that the obviousness and the attractiveness of this type of deal is evident. The Bookseller has details:

Random House is to set up a book club with supermarket chain Tesco. Tesco will select one Random House title each month which will be featured in stores nationwide, clearly marked with Tesco Book Club branding.

The launch title is Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, followed by One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson in July. The books will be Tesco Special Editions with a branded bookmark and each will feature exclusive extra content. Titles will also feature in Tesco Magazine and be promoted to Tesco.com customers via an email campaign.

In terms of publishing coups you have to say it is quite the score for Random House. I wonder if it means the other big houses will rush to deals with the remaining chains? Of course none is quite as well positioned as Tesco is (Apparently £1 in very £8 spent on groceries in the UK is spent in Tesco).

Seems like an interesting development one way or the other.
Eoin