The Tesco results yesterday were very interesting for followers of online business strategies.
UK like-for-like sales were up 5.9%. However, Tesco's online sales were up more than 30% to £150m in the six weeks to January 6th. That's a drop in the ocean compared to Tesco's other business (£2bn a year profit!) but it's pretty sizable for online retail.
A report in the Telegraph suggested Ocado, Waitrose's online retailer, saw sales up 55% in the runup to Christmas. Waitrose is doing pretty well, with like-for-like sales up 6.2% - but again it's the online business that's making all the running.
I've never thought food retail was the most likely candidate for online sales. Unlike travel tickets, hotel bookings, or books and CDs, you've got a bulky product and you need to have your own distribution network - so the investment is massive. But it does seem to be getting more popular and as these figures prove, even in the 'bricks' world, it's the 'clicks' that are winning.
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