Tesco Commuter Zone

Tesco has launched a new commuter zone service, in a bid to make it easier for shoppers to buy their groceries on the way to and from work.

The retailer says the scheme will prevent customers from experiencing the "hassle" of shopping at the end of a working day.

The commuter zone, designed to be most accessible on a smartphone, contains and recommends a range of products, including lunchtime sandwiches, that workers are most likely to want throughout the working day, that can then be ordered for delivery around their weekly schedule.

"Our new commuter zone is the latest way we’re helping customers to manage their time, by pulling together a range of high quality products and categorizing them to reflect the working week," said Ken Towle, Tesco's director of internet retail. 

The commuter zone, which has now launched nationwide and works in line with the current Tesco online delivery service, will be promoted heavily in London with campaign posters (pictured) featuring a tube map adapted to show the products available as part of the scheme.

However, Duncan Swift, a food industry expert at accountancy firm Moore Stephens, said he didn't see too many differences between the new format and Tesco's current online services.

He concluded: "The commuter zone service looks like an amalgam of ‘click & collect’ and online delivery services parcelled up to trial at a low-cost.

"While intended to be a national approach, it’s probably only going to have any meaningful customer take-up in and around Central London, which explains why most of their promotional campaign is targeted at the capital."