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Management Information Systems

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A Review of ASDA & Tesco

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Contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 3
Management information system............................................................................................................ 4
Tesco- Presenting the company ............................................................................................................... 4
Tesco Online ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Strategic and operational goals of Tesco .............................................................................................. 6

ASDA- Presenting the company ............................................................................................................... 7

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ASDA online......................................................................................................................................... 7

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Strategic and operational goals of ASDA .............................................................................................. 8

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Strengths and weaknesses of Asda.com and Tesco.com .......................................................................... 9

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References ............................................................................................................................................ 10

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Executive summary

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The report deals with the websites of two big retail chains of United Kingdom. It has

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been tried to describe the online retailing system of ASDA and Tesco and in doing so the

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websites of these organizations would be studied and compared in order to analyze their

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strengths and weaknesses and their share in the U.K Retail market.

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Management information system

Management information system could be best described as the information that is
helpful in the effective running of an organization. It has three primary resources which
are technology, people and information. Management information system is helpful in
analyzing operational activities in an organization and this makes it different from other

information systems (OBrien, 1999).

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This report would take into consideration two different enterprises which are known to be

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competitors in the market and would try to make a comparative study of the organizations

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and their respective websites as to how the websites are different from each other, what

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are the advantages each enterprise provide to their online customers, their strategic and

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operational goals etc.

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Tesco- Presenting the company

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Tesco is the worlds third largest retailer dealing in grocery and merchandise and has its

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headquarter in Cheshunt, U.K. Not only in the United Kingdom but Tesco have stores in

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14 countries of the world including Asia, Europe and North America. According to a
survey conducted in 2008 Tesco has online market share of about 27.1% which gives it a
first position compared to other retail chains. It has a turnover of about 748 million
online. As per the organization it receives around 300,000 orders each week (Humby,
2008).

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Tesco Online
The website of Tesco which could be found at tesco.com looks attractive and alluring to
the customers. On the home page of the website one would get to see the fresh offers and
discounts that are being offered to its online clients. The services of Tesco could be
divided under four major services which are Tesco Direct, Fresh food and groceries, Club
card and Tesco bank. Under the services of Tesco direct one would find products like

home electrical, phones, kitchen products, furniture, bath products, DIY and car products,

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beauty products, sports and leisure products, gifts and toys, Cds, games etc. Under the

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section of fresh food and groceries one can register with Tesco and have a personal

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account and even boo a delivery slot of their choice. Here customers are entitled to a few

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favors and help from the organization when shopping online. Under the section of Club

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card the organization has facility for a club card which entitles customers for discounts

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and points for each purchase made. The Tesco bank which falls under the fourth category

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of services offer insurance products, credit cards, loans and other investment plans to its

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customers. These are the main products to offer to the customers but not only has this
Tesco much more to offer to its online customers with life style and community which

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deals with topics as varied as food, diets, baby care, home efficiency, nutria care, healthy
living etc. These are some value added services provided by Tesco to attract customers
and help them to gather extra information on lifestyle and habits. On the right hand of the
home page one would find the tag of more products and services under which there are
facilities for locating a Tesco store, information on used car for sale in Tesco, bouquet
services, travel services, opticians, gas and electricity services, free download for mobile
applications, gold exchange services etc. Thus it could be said after going through the

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website of Tesco that the organization has kept in mind every detail while constructing
the website as it offers a varied range of services and products and even helps a customer
to clarify any doubt if any about the organization and its products and services
(www.tesco.com).

Strategic and operational goals of Tesco

The club card program of Tesco has proved profitable for the organization it has been

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helpful in persuading customers to shop online as this would entitle them to discounts and

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points each time they purchase anything.

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It can be seen from the varied range of services and products that the management of

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Tesco had developed strategies which could make it stand out in comparison with other

retail chains. Not only does Tesco offer a huge range of products but it does offer a huge

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range of intangible services as well like e-diets, free music and mobile application

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downloads etc. These are some value added services offered by Tesco to attract

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customers for online shopping. More over the website is so user friendly that first time
users would be able to locate their products from the categories of services on the home

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page (Dinkhoff, 2009).

Tesco also offer its customers to book a slot for home delivery of products as per their
convenient time, this service makes Tesco popular with office goers and students who
can choose a convenient time for the product delivery.
Tesco.com also provide traditional services as per the demand of the customers like
Tesco telecom fixed line services which helped in attracting millions of customers in the
very first year.
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ASDA- Presenting the company

ASDA is another Chain of super markets in U.K retailing in grocery, general
merchandise, gifts, toys, financial services etc. ASDA has a mobile telephone network
known as the ASDA mobiles with collaboration with Vodafone network. The head
quarter of ASDA is located in West Yorkshire. It is the second largest retail chain after
Tesco. ASDA claims that it is Britains lowest priced supermarket. ASDA is a division

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of Wal-Mart which is the biggest retailer in the world (Nehls, 2010).

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ASDA online

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The online retailer service was launched by ASDA in 1998 but due to over estimated

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demands it suffered, sales were comparatively lower than what was estimated and had to

be closed. In 2004 ASDA announced that its online services would be expanded to cover

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a larger population of the United Kingdom. In 2007 ASDA launched a website for ASDA

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electronics to compete with Tesco. The current home page of Asda.com is as attractive as
Tesco.com and offers a range of services and products to its customers. On the home

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page it has ten major categories which are further divided into the individual products and

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services that they offer. These are the ASDA groceries, ASDA direct, entertainment,
clothing, baby products, gift items, travel and holiday, health and beauty products,
financial services, and insurance. ASDA also has links with twitter and face book like
Tesco and also has ASDA gift cards. Just like Tesco ASDA also has several value added
services like ASDA charities, the green room where employees of ASDA share their
stories and life in ASDA. The website has options wherein customers can register and
check out for special offers going on for the day or month in ASDA. Asda.com also
provides for services like news and events, cooking recipes etc.
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It can be said that both ASDA and Tesco being the biggest competitors in the U.K retail
chain provides almost similar products and services to their online customers
(www.asda.com)

Strategic and operational goals of ASDA

According to a survey in 2008, ASDA shares 10.1% U.K online market share which is

almost 17% lower than that of Tesco. ASDA has been trying hard to introduce new

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techniques and strategies to compete with Tesco to grab the number one position now

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held by Tesco in online retail marketing. According to president of ASDA it is exploring

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opportunities to expand its online share with the help of social media sites. Their

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presence in the social media sites would help them to have a close contact with the

customers and would expand their customer base. Like Tesco, ASDA has introduced a

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large number of services that would attract customers online. Asda.com provides value

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added services like news and events, recipes, ASDA charities etc which helps in making

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the site more attractive and interactive for the customers. It has been reported by the

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management of ASDA that ASDA home shopping services serve almost 97% of U.K.

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ASDA allows its customers to buy a range of items like furniture electronic items etc.
online or over the phone. Another marketing strategy of ASDA involves news and events
of election and other current topics. It helps asda.com to connect with its customers and
interact with them regularly (Watson et al, 2007).

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Strengths and weaknesses of Asda.com and Tesco.com

It can be concluded that though the services provided by Asda.com are at par with
Tesco.com Tesco has a larger share in online retailing as it started its online retailing
much earlier than ASDA. But according to the management of ASDA it has been trying

hard to bring maximum number of customers into its online shopping domain with

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exclusive products and value added services. Both ASDA and Tesco are big names in

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retail in the United Kingdom and are always competing with each other to be on top. It

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has been noticed in this report that the products and services offered by ASDA and Tesco

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are almost similar and both the retail chains take meticulous care in introducing new

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services and products as per the demand of the customer. Tesco has a bigger share in

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Online Retailing than ASDA and this has made the management to introduce new

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strategies so that they could be at number one position in online retailing. Online retailing

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is gaining pace with the existence of several social network sites and people purchasing
products online (Pant & Hsu, 1995). Customers are attracted by the valued added services

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they get from companies and thus more and more companies are introducing services and
products to offer to their customers which are unique and help them to stand apart from
other companies. In doing so both ASDA and Tesco has introduced a wide range of
services and products to its customers to expand their share of online retailing. Both the
websites are attractive and interactive and provide huge range of services and products to
the customers, but they should introduce some unique service that would make them
stand out from the other (Laudon & Laudon, 2009).

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References
OBrien, J (1999). Management Information Systems Managing Information
Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise. McGraw-Hill: Boston.
Laudon, Kenneth C.; Laudon, Jane P. (2009). Management Information Systems:
Managing the Digital Firm .11th ed. Prentice Hall: Canada

Pant, S., Hsu, C., (1995), Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review,

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Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 2124,

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Atlanta.

Intelligence". Computer 40 (9): 96.

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Watson, Hugh J.; Wixom, Barbara H. (2007). "The Current State of Business

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Ed. Prentice Hall: New York

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Humby, C., (2008). Scoring Points: How Tesco Continues to Win Customer Loyalty. 3rd

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Dinkhoff, M., (2009). Business Valuation of Tesco: Calculation of Different Valuation

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Methods and presentation of differences between them. Penguin: London.

Nehls, V., (2010). Private Label Brands at ASDA: Why Supermarket Retailers Should
Understand consumer behavior. TMH: India
Accessed From: www.asda.com [Accessed: 10/01/2012}
Accessed From: www.tesco.com [Accessed 10/01/2012]

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