Remember when Tesco reverted back to pounds and ounces and the publicity that followed? Remember the rise in profits and jump in shareprice *as a direct result*?

In todays news:
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Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket chain, has beaten analysts' forecasts with annual profits up 14% to £1.4bn.

The group said it had also met targets for its overseas businesses.

Tesco used its results to announce it would create 20,000 new jobs in 2003, 9,000 of them abroad.

Chief executive Terry Leahy said: "It has become a winners and losers market so it's important that we are a winner."
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But, for the losers on this board: Those 9000 shops abroad will surely sell in metric only so if you want you can have your own "private victory"!

Go on, have it, it'll keep you "believing"

"Remember when Tesco reverted back to pounds and ounces and the publicity that followed? Remember the rise in profits and jump in shareprice *as a direct result*?"

If you don't mind me saying so, this is absolute bollocks.

Unfortunately for you it is not!

Sainsbury (staunchly pro-EU) saw the moneybag signs and followed suit.

Why do you not believe it when the very item got shown on the BBC news?

Are the BBC rabid anti-metricists or something?

Sounds like sour grapes!!!

(do you avoid Tesco?)

According to the business section in my newspaper a large proportion of Tesco's profit rise is due to said overseas growth.

You're not seriously suggesting that this is down to the Thailand Tesco stores selling their bananas by the pound are you ?

I emailed Tesco customer services in January this year regarding the imperial measurements they often use and this is the reply I received:

"Thank you for your e-mail.

We have recently converted all loose products that were previously sold by
imperial weight (pounds, ounces) into metric quantities (kilograms etc). We
have made this change in response to Government legislation which requires
that all retailers must trade in metric units by the year 2000, to bring us
into line with the rest of Europe.

These changes effect all loose products including fruit and vegetables that
you select and pack yourself and loose products sold from our Delicatessen,
Meat Counters, Fish Counters and Pick'n' Mix Sweets.

The shelf edge label will now show a leading price in kilograms, followed by
a price per lb. Your till receipt will show the weight and price in
kilograms.

I would like to assure you that prices have not increased as a result of
this change. In fact, customers will be charged the metric price which has
been rounded down to the nearest 1p. We will now calculate our prices in
metric using official Government conversion factors. Therefore the price
will effectively not change.


Kind Regards

Gillian McNally
Customer Service Manager"

thailand tesco?

Sorry Richard, that's a "general" email that they sent out! I got the same one when the Tesco in Wokingham were not sticking to their own rule that "imperial comes first".
When I emailed them back to complain that the auto-response was to the wrong question I got a personalised one expressing regret that the Wokingham shop was doing this and they'd look into it. They then cited the press release that promised imperial measures.

If you'd like to feel *really* sick, Richard - then go to www.tesco.com, follow the link to "corporate info" then "press centre". Go to the selection box at the bottom of the screen and select the very last item at the bottom entitled "TESCO WEIGHS UP METRICATION CONFUSION"

You may need to purchase some hankies - perhaps those measuring 6" x 3".

Finally, next time you go into tesco pick up one of their *packaged* items (eg Bacon). Have a look at the weight on the packet.

Always remember that it is impossible to lie if the proof is out there, especially if that proof can be picked up and bought at your local tesco.

Hey perhaps you and Pip can start a "boycott tesco" campaign - I'm sure you'll get the public on your side and I'm sure I'll see my shares in Tesco simply wither away!

Enjoy

The Tesco item is not there now. What did it say?

Yes it it!

Here is a direct cut 'n' paste (with activity before)...

browser setting : www.tesco.com
click 5th tag "Corporate Info"
click 2nd column picture "Press Centre"
Scroll all the way to the bottom
Click pull down box under the title:
"For more news stories, please select from the pull down box below: "
Scroll to the last item "TESCO WEIGHS UP METRICATION CONFUSION"

The item says the following:

TESCO WEIGHS UP METRICATION CONFUSION - Nearly 90 % of shoppers think in pounds & ounces

(Friday 14.07.00)


Imperial weights and measures are to be reintroduced and highlighted in a move to help confused shoppers.


Tesco will reintroduce price per lbs on product packs, imperial weights will be enlarged on shelf edge labels and metric will be dropped from point of sale material.


Under new Euro rules, metric measurements are meant to take precedence. But research by Tesco has shown customers still weigh up their purchases in pounds and ounces. Over 53 per cent of customers find metric confusing and 76 per cent of customers would like imperial measurements displayed. Only 8 per cent of customers would like metric weight displayed on its own.


The research also showed that most customers ''think'' in imperial. When asked to guess the weight of a bag of apples, 87 per cent of customers estimated the weight in imperial, when asked the same question for Fresh Mince, 86 per cent of customers expressed their answer in imperial.


"It''s time to turn the scales in favour of the British customer, 90 per cent of our shoppers think in imperial " says Tesco Marketing Director, Tim Mason, "They tell us when it comes to size, imperial matters. We''re not anti Europe, but we are pro shopper. Our customers quite clearly live their lives thinking and working in imperial"


A spate of mis ordering, by Tesco Home shopping customers pointed up the problem. One customer ordered 3 kg of broccoli rather than 3 lbs, another ordered 9 kg of potatoes rather than just 9 Ibs. The final straw came when one customer ordered 2kgs of prawns rather than the 2Ibs she wanted.


New posters and point of sale labels are being rolled out to all 650 Tesco stores. These will headline prices in imperial units. However, to remain legal, all shelve edge labels and labelordered 2kgs of prawns rather than the 2Ibs she wanted.


New posters and point of sale labels are being rolled out to all 650 Tesco stores. These will headline prices in imperial units. However, to remain legal, all shelve edge labels and labels on products will carry both metric and imperial unit pricing.


"We are in the business of making life easier for shoppers," adds Tim Mason, " right now customers want their purchases pointed up in pounds and ounces."


* Imperial measurements will be along side shelf edge labels and on products. Point of sale material will be in imperial only.

Yes, SteveH.

They do have Tesco supermarkets in Thailand.

I should know, I've been in one.

And the only thing sold with imperial sizing were the Televisions.

Don't tell me we've finally found a country that you haven't been too !

Where's the usual "everybody really thinks in imperial" type comments that we're used to ?

"metric will be dropped from point of sale material."

"Point of sale material will be in imperial only."

What exactly is "point of sale" material?

"We''re not anti Europe, but we are pro shopper."

Anti law by the sounds of things.

So all you anti-metricists think that Tesco is imperial? Well, visit Tesco home shopping at www.tesco.com and go to fruit and vegetables. You can either buy for example apples in quantity (e.g. 6 apples) or by weight. The only weight you can order in is in kilograms!

The only bit of imperial on there is a conversion chart on the site in small print. Sainsbury and Asda are the same although I couldn't even find a conversion chart on those sites.

It does appear from Tescos web site that they have very largely backed away from the staunch price/lb, oz policy.

This must mean that they realise that shoppers are now getting used to metric. Their survey is now, at least, around 3 years old and goes back to a time when price/kg was still very new.

Absolutely true Pip. It's like when petrol prices were changed to be shown by the litre. You didn't get mass confusion then and everyone these days accepts buying their petrol by the litre as the norm.

the website has always been in metric (not sure about the references to it in their press release!!!?!?)

Fortunately for non-nerds who leave their house from time to time the actual supermarkets still show the price as advertised.

And number of shoppers go up
And revenue goes up
And profits go up
And share price go up.

Happy customers eh? Whatever next?!?!

P.S. Asda show price per gallon at their stations - sorry (ouch!)

not at my asda they don't

...oh no, next you'll be writing to asda in Doncaster to find out why they don't have their price shown by the gallon!

Richard:

Find spectacles
Go to your Asda again (specially).
Look at big price sign that you can see from the road.
Read it.

(and bear in mind what the word "lie" means when you come back)

SteveH lives in some kind of alternate universe.

Despite shopping at my local Asda every week and quite often filling up the car at the same time I have NEVER seen the price given by the gallon.

That's both on the big sign and on the pumps.

SteveH's Asda is obviously "special".

Besides, what use is £'s per gallon for comparing prices when almost every garage across the length and breadth of the country gives the price exclusively as pence per litre ?????

Go on Steve, ask your friends and colleagues how much petrols costs at the moment. I bet most will say "about 80p a litre" or something similar.

(For any Americans reading this: Yes, it is a rip-off.)

Say to your work colleagues "...and do you *realise* how much that is per gallon?" and hear the renditions of "yeah I know!!! Scandalous"

I'm talking of all the Asda's I've seen in the S.E. Personeally I don't even like the place. I shop at Tesco.

<<
Say to your work colleagues "...and do you *realise* how much that is per gallon?" and hear the renditions of "yeah I know!!! Scandalous"
>>

This reeks of tabloid sensationalism.

This sort of comparison is meaningless unless one takes something more constant than the pound sterling (or Euro or US dollar) as a measurment of value. Probably the best unit is how many minutes it would take you to earn enough money to buy a gallon of petrol.

Since you put it that way....

I think I'll "work from home" from now on!


P.S. note the emphasis placed on the quotes, ie there is:

Work from home

and there is:

"Work from home"

Both very different beasts!

Work seems to be something that you're not too familiar with judging by the way that your posts are timed.

I wish my employer and clients were as generous.

People seek skilled people.

Nuff said, eh?