The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Author

By Gillian West | Social media manager

August 9, 2012 | 4 min read

Ten facts you should know about Tesco’s virtual store:

1. It was developed from the original idea used in South Korea where people could shop from billboards in subways and at bus stops

2. The store will be open during Gatwick Airports busiest two weeks – 6 August to 19 August

3. Users will have to download the Tesco app to use the online store

4. Registration with tesco.com is also needed to be able to use the store

5. The store has 80 products in total but thousands more can be accessed from the app

6. Users scan the barcodes on the virtual display screens to select the product and add to their basket

7. There are four interactive fridges in the virtual store, and six digital sites around the departure lounge for customers to use at Gatwick

8. Once products are selected customers proceed to the checkout and pay ahead of time

9. Delivery times can be selected for up-to three weeks in the future

10. The store will be staffed for help and assistance between 6am and 9pm

Following on from the success of the world’s first virtual store in South Korea, Tesco has unveiled its first ever UK virtual store in Gatwick Airport.

The new solution based in Gatwick’s North Terminal allows users to shop from virtual screens allowing groceries to be ordered ahead of time and delivered when they return from their holidays. The original idea, piloted in South Korea last year saw consumers able to shop straight from billboards installed in subways and bus stops. The idea garnered worldwide attention with 25 million posts around the globe.

Speaking at the launch Tesco’s internet retailing director Ken Towle, said the virtual store “blends clicks and bricks” as it brings together the “love of browsing with the convenience of shopping online.”

Based in Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal until 19 August, the virtual store is made up of four interactive fridges, each stocked with around 80 products. To order customers must download the Tesco app – which will give users access to Tesco’s full range as well as allowing access to the virtual store – and register with tesco.com. Once they have done this all they need to do is scan the barcode and add items to their basket, once complete they head to the checkout and pay in advance whilst picking a deliver slot up-to 3 weeks in the future. There will also be six interactive billboards around the departure lounge.

Towle added: “It’s[the virtual store] a chance to showcase what we can do to the 30,000 people a day who will depart from Gatwick’s North Terminal, many of whom will need to fill their fridges when they get home, and we’re looking forward to hearing what they think.”

As passengers have around 70 minutes down time on average whilst waiting on flights, Tesco is the first retailer to offer them a service of this kind. Interestingly, Tesco was also the first retailer to offer online grocery shopping in the UK, and now has over 1.3 million active customers.

Speaking at the Consumer Goods Forum, Istanbul in June 2012, Tesco CEO Phillip Clarke, commented: “It’s [progress] about following the customer and how they are changing.

“According to one estimate the number of mobile devices will overtake the number of people on earth within five years. By 2020 everyone under the age of 21 will be a digital native. In their minds there is very little difference between a store and a website and smartphones are as central to their lives as electricity.”

In 2012, UK consumers are expected to spend £4.5 billion using mobile devices which is an increase of 53 per cent on 2011. By 2016 90 per cent of mobile phones will be smartphones meaning the potential market for Tesco’s virtual store is extensive.

Speaking to The Drum a Tesco spokesperson confirmed that the virtual store “was in the trial stages at the moment, and there are no set plans to make it permanent at Gatwick or roll it out across the UK.” The spokesperson added that to judge the success of the project “staff on the ground” will be actively speaking with customers to get “feedback on how the store works, what they like and don’t like and how they are interacting with it.”

Tesco

More from Tesco

View all