Tesco has launched an online marketplace containing thousands of third-party products to give shoppers “access to more” than it carries in-store or online.
Launching today (4 June), the new platform currently contains around 9,000 third-party products across categories including DIY, garden, homeware, petcare and toys.
The supermarket told The Grocer that at full operational scale, the new marketplace will make Tesco “a one-stop shop for everything customers need”.
The marketplace’s third-party products are listed alongside Tesco groceries on its website and app but are fulfilled directly by the supplier.
The platform currently hosts about 17 sellers, which have been screened to meet the grocer’s “robust requirements and standards” and are joined by an initial selection of brands including Charles Bentley, Diageo, Tefal, Tommee Tippee and Silentnight.
Tesco marketplace director Peter Filcek told the publication: “Ultimately it all boils down to wanting to give our customers access to more than we carry.”
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
It is understood that the suppliers will soon be subject to metrics such as customer ratings and reviews, and will continue to be tracked by Tesco over features such as delivery speed, delivery success rates and returns.
As the marketplace is separate from Tesco.com, customers will also be subject to separate delivery fees, and will pay for third-party items separate to their grocery shops.
However customers can still earn Clubcard points on purchases, and shoppers with Anytime Delivery Saver will receive free standard delivery if an order is over £50 from the same seller.
Filcek added: “We were looking at customer searches on our websites and we found things that we just don’t carry in Tesco [stores] or online, and so that prompted a stream of thinking around what we could do to open up that range, to give customers what they’re looking for because they were genuinely looking for all sorts of things.”
