What does Tesco’s entrance into the United States mean for your business?

As this month’s cover story features Tesco’s arrival in the United States, I thought it would be a good time to ask what have you done about it? What thought have you put into this interesting new immigrant to our shores?

Tesco certainly is not the type of newcomer envisioned by Emma Lazarus, nor is it coming in through Ellis Island. But arriving it is and with a lot of due diligence. Whether you’re a retailer in the company’s target area, a manufacturer of the type of product that’s going to be offered, or just a retailer that thinks the model is a very appropriate one for your customers right now, you should have your eye on the arrival of this newcomer.

Over the past 20 years we’ve seen stores get larger and larger, and yet our customers are getting older and older. Sure, we have great examples of smaller stores providing great opportunities to bypass the mega store, but they are too few and far between. Our convenience stores are not convenient in terms of product offering for a major part of our population, with a handful of very notable exceptions like Sheetz and Wawa.

So this huge void has been crying out to be filled for several years now and no one has really stepped up to fill it. Hence Tesco.

The Brits have come here before, of course, but like the famous tea party in Boston, they haven’t really sussed it out that well. This time things could be very different.

So now for your homework assignment:

Write in 500 words or less what you think your company’s reaction should be to Tesco’s entrance into the United States. Then, summarize the results and develop a one-page action plan. The plan might only be to ask an outside resource to give you a detailed report on what Tesco’s opening looks like. It might be to send your own task force to the store. It might be to develop your own version of the store in your own area and get on with it before anyone else does.

We all know that customers are going to embrace the concept. There’s enough people out there who really only want to shop for tonight. What remains to be seen is will it be sustainable? Will the pricing and product offering be right? Will the margins be a good enough return? Will the competition react intelligently? All questions to be asked and answered. Quickly. So either we have another Boston Tea Party or we don’t. Either way, we should be prepared.

Tom Stephens is the founder of Brand Strategy Consultants, North York, Ontario. He can be reached at 416-391-1635 or VOIP him at: Vonage 416-907-9848 or Skype at stephenscrimson or e-mail at tomstephens@brandstrategyconsultants.ca Stephens says thinking “inside the box” is often appropriate, since answers to 90 percent of retail problems can be found inside the four walls of the store.