Tesco Direct, which is about to be launched in Britain and the north, will allow consumers to buy a range of clothing, electrical and household items over the internet for home delivery.
Tesco Ireland’s chief executive, Tony Keohane, confirmed that the service will be offered here, probably in 2008. “It’s an extremely exciting project and one that will be introduced to Northern Ireland initially,” he said. “We’ll assess its impact and then decide at what point we should bring it here.”
Keohane is keen to expand Tesco’s non-food offering here and said its new supermarkets would all include space for these items. In the UK, Tesco has opened a standalone non-food outlet, and Keohane said this model could be imported to the Irish market if it proves popular with British shoppers.
Tesco already has a successful online grocery delivery business in the republic, which was launched in 2001. These sales rose by 24% to €18.8m in the year to the end of February.
Tesco Direct was due to be launched in the UK last week but it was delayed due to technical difficulties. It is seen as a significant threat to Argos, an established catalogue retailer.
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