UK-based retail giant Tesco has admitted its early market research was mistaken ahead of the opening of its 113-strong Fresh & Easy store network in the US, according to a report by UK publication The Times.
“We may have assumed that certain elements of the Fresh & Easy brand would do the work for us and we would not have to go down and dirty on price. That may have been a mistake,” said Tim Mason, head of Tesco’s US business.
As part of its market research Marketing director Simon Unwins said the retailer “went into people’s houses, kitchens and pantries and talked to them about food and food shopping” ahead of Fresh & Easy’s launch in November 2007.
However, Mr Mason now admits, the retailer did not poke around their garages, where they would have found huge freezer chests bulging with stockpiled meat bought on discount.
“There’s less loyalty in the American market,” he told The Times. “A Brit has to hear it a few times before you accept that people make up their mind where to go each week when they check out the special offers round the kitchen table.
“In a key moment at a focus group, one man told them that he had stopped shopping at Fresh & Easy because they no longer sent him a flier promoting the latest special offers. We came out of that meeting and said we had better make sure we hit everyone in the area with fliers.”
Tesco had planned to open a further 200 Fresh & Easy stores this year but has in light of the slowing economy the retailer put back expansion plans by least six months, the newspaper reported.
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