Online grocery sales at Tesco.com have hit £10m in a week for the
first time, a sign that UK consumers have accepted online
supermarket shopping as a normal part of life, according to the
retailer.
More than 100,000 households across the UK ordered shopping from
Tesco.com in the last week of November, a number that is expected
to rise in the run-up to Christmas.
John Browett, chief executive officer of Tesco.com, said the
figures prove that the air of mystery about the Internet has
evaporated. "Until recently, many people still found the idea of
using the computer to do their regular supermarket shop too big a
change. But the mystery has gone now. We all know at least one
person who buys groceries on the Net and that makes taking the
plunge so much easier," he said.
The figures will increase pressure on Sainsbury's online venture,
which expects to be profitable in late 2003 or early 2004, while
Tesco.com's first half results for 2002 showed a pre-tax profit of
£1.5m.