Tesco offers e-commerce to Slovakian consumers

Thursday, October 11, 2012 - 13:52 by Paul Tissington

Retail giant Tesco has decided to dip its toes into the e-commerce market outside of the UK and offer safe shopping online to thousands of Slovakians who live in Bratislava and the communities around it.

Customers will be able to order their weekly groceries from a range of more than 20,000 products and Tesco is even offering non-perishable goods, like kids' toys and print publications.

Tesco spokesperson, Martin Dlouhy, said that providing online grocery delivery services in Slovakia would make it much easier for locals to purchase their shopping, without having to head to a bricks and mortar supermarket.

Tesco has already rolled out platforms for safe shopping online in Poland and South Korea, in addition to its domestic service here in the UK.

It is looking to become a full multichannel retailer in more nations than ever before, because it believes that this is the best way for it to secure long term growth and grab a share of emerging e-commerce markets overseas.

Tesco's director of e-commerce, Ken Towle, said that the existing online delivery service in the UK had been able to provide the retailer with lots of experience, which was being applied to help streamline the rollout of similar platforms elsewhere.

There are 126 Tesco outlets in Slovakia itself and the company has grown its presence progressively in the 16 years since it first entered the market there.

While the online delivery service will only have limited reach at first, its success in Bratislava will allow it to spread to other areas of Slovakia.

Back in the UK, Tesco is looking to shore up its online customer base and develop more and more dark stores across the country, to make it easier to carry out home deliveries at prices that people can afford.