[northfifeduckling]

back to the original post       and it has left me wondering  did tesco recruit jimmy to bolster there flagging sales   or was it wholly Jimmy's idea      from what i saw it is tesco made from British meat not a mention of jimmy from the brief shot of the packing   must go to tesco and have a squint at the shelves
interesting was the demo in the park with cooking and butchery and touching of the animals the environmental health officer for lanarkshire  must have been having Canaries watching that
back to you for your comments

very good points, Robert. I wondered bout the same things. It was probably C4's idea  , by the same makers of the Jamie Oliver programs, always up for a controversy  . jimmy's Britain's most likeable farmer (with a conscience) and everybody hates Tesco (but still shops there). I also think Jimmy would have deserved a merchandise shot on the produce! I hope he gets a percentage of the sales for the intellectual poperty of the recipes. Now they can even market them "as seen on C4"

[deepinthewoods]

absolutely right. funny how this coincided with tescos worse results ever, and the failure of their 'value' ranges to compete with the likes of aldi/lidl.
i did note at the end the positioning of the sausages bottom right of the section. the first rule of merchandising is if you want to maximise a products retail then you place it top left. this can have a tenfold impact on sales. every bit of a shelfs space is laid out according to profit and sales, highest profit/sales go top left, the slow sellers, or ones you want to price establish ready for a future promotion or discount go bottom right

[Simple Simon]

This is a lose-lose situation for Tesco.  Refusing to co-operate with Jimmy (and you could tell they were really on the edge of that) is bad publicity but they really don't want what he has on offer - hence the product placement.


The former CEO Terry Leahy has published a management book a year after his departure (during which the share price has dumped 25%).  In his book he devotes 4 pages to himself and 20 pages to the Tesco Clubcard.  One of my children went to school with one of his: there's more than 4 pages to be written, believe me! 


Alongside Tesco's machine-like devotion to systems, data and screwing suppliers its market domination was ably assisted by a succession of own-goals scored by Sainsbury, Morrison and the other chains.  Now, and for the first time in my lifetime the Co-op is revitalised while Sainsbury and Morrison have got canny.  Recession is the perfect market for Aldi and Lidl so on a level playing field the public's dislike of Tesco is now starting to matter.  Waitrose has neatly moved itself further up-market and out of sight of the rest.

[Herdygirl]

I always thought (having worked for the now gone Safway) that the best position on the shelf for maximum profits and volume was eye line, the next best was the shelf down and the stuff they really didn't want ot sell or were trying out or the cheapest was top shelf or the bottom.

[northfifeduckling]

Eyehight still works, so I always look at the very bottom shelf first for what I need. I think in the meantime they've learned the left and right position from NLP (neurolinguistic programming), which is not so easily accessible for us. We can all be manipulated that way - works in therapy as well which is the good side of it....

[Small Farmer]

Interesting. Any more insights into how we're manipulated would be welcome.  I've got more resistant to the BOGOF racket but we still over-buy

[deepinthewoods]

most shops work clockwise.

[Small Farmer]

which explains why my mum was immune.  She shopped according to the order of the things on her shopping list and walked miles buying only what she wanted

[northfifeduckling]

my guide is price, taking petrol to get to places into account. I always go with a list but do get other things for the store cupboard if they are cheapest in the store I am in. Quality is my second guide. Tinned tomatoes are best quality at Aldi, meat and fresh fish at Morrisons. 

[Simple Simon]

I built a spreadsheet a while ago to work out how far it was worth going to save a penny a litre.  Given the hike in prices I should dig it out and scare myself.

[MAK]

Phillips used to negotiate the positioning of their electrical products with high street chains. Left of the store (UK only) ,eye level at the point where the flooring changes from hardsurface to carpet was good- orange attracts I gather . Carpet slows ladies down in M&S !!!!
If you want to get rid of customers then just look at MacDonalds seating areas - hardsurfaces, noise and seat that challenge even the "oversize me" brigrade.

[Simple Simon]

I knew the late Bob Payton, a fast-food innovator, for whom making a profit meant turning around people in his restaurants faster.  So:


- the coffee was poor, and expensive.  People didn't linger
- the seats weren't particularly comfortable
- the piped music was on a fairly short loop.  People left when they heard repeats thinking they must have been there a while
- staff were trained not to say "would you like a dessert" but "the apple pie is good today, can I bring you some"

[northfifeduckling]

hmmm - this must be aimed at one-timers only 
if the coffee is good and the staff are happy I tend to go back every time I'm in town