Tesco Plc has been forced to cancel thousands of online grocery orders due to a systems glitch, leaving some customers empty-handed in an embarrassingly timed slip-up for the UK’s largest retailer.
A fault with software used by Tesco workers to pick customer orders from its stores led to the cancellations, which, the company said, affected less than 10% of orders.
“We’re working hard to fix this problem and apologise to customers for any inconvenience this may cause,” Tesco said. It didn’t say when the problem would be resolved.
Bad Timing
The breakdown comes as Amazon.com, Inc.’s $13.7 billion takeover of Whole Foods Market, Inc. highlights the growing role of technology in the global grocery industry. The US giant is said to be considering the introduction of systems to eliminate cashiers in Whole Foods stores, and trademarks approved last month also suggest that that blueprint will be coming to the UK.
Tesco’s systems fault is the second to hit Britain’s big grocers this month, after a recent failing at rival J Sainsbury Plc forced the company to delay or cancel deliveries from almost a third of its stores.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
