Further proof this month of the growing importance of an online presence, as Tesco confirms that building its Tesco.com online service will be more important than opening new stores in 2012/13.

The company has now allocated £150m for this initiative to develop its online channels. Tesco’s Chief Information Officer, Mike McNamara, has indicated that much of this will go into Tesco’s website, and also to a new section entitled Marketplace.

On Marketplace, consumers can buy from third parties via the Tesco website, in the same way that they can buy a contract with a mobile phone company instore. Tesco now plans to build the number of products available on Marketplace to 200,000. McNamara also indicated that an eBay-style section could be added in the future, so that customers could sell as well as buy, through the Tesco website.

With the success of Tesco.com, the online shopping and home delivery service (with the snappy motto ‘You Shop, We Drop’), Tesco is now introducing a new concept called ‘Click and Collect’.

‘Click and Collect’ is what it says: you shop from your PC, laptop or mobile phone in the comfort of your living room (or in the office when the boss isn’t looking), and call to your local store a few hours later, to find your goods all bagged and ready for you.

With the unbounded scope of the internet, the development of Tesco online dovetails well with the company’s strong drive for international expansion.

from butterCloudHQ

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