Tesco was dumped in the remainder bin by the City after new boss Dave Lewis lifted the lid on results delayed by the grocer’s accounting scandal.

Tesco was dumped in the remainder bin by the City after new boss Dave Lewis lifted the lid on results delayed by the grocer’s accounting scandal.

It wasn’t just the dire numbers and continued turbulence that made them turn tail.

Lewis’s failure to set out his stall in the form of a detailed strategic vision disappointed some, even though it was known in advance he would not.

The reaction was understandable. After all, Tesco is in such a mess that it couldn’t even provide any full-year profit guidance.

But the reaction was also unfair from a practical retail perspective.

Lewis has only been in the job eight weeks. The idea that he could put the shop in order in such a short time, never mind map out a route to future success, was as likely as the return of Sir Terry Leahy as chairman.

Despite complaints following Lewis’s presentation that it was 10-a-penny “waffle” about the importance of the customer, the shopper is exactly what Lewis and the Tesco team should be focusing on.

It’s clear that a loss of understanding of the customer – perversely reflected in overconfidence that no retailer knew consumers better – was at the heart of Tesco’s demise.

Reacquainting Tesco with shoppers will take time. It must combine the science of data and trends with the emotional intelligence to chime with consumer needs and aspirations.

Together those elements can make for great shopkeeping. But it won’t be an overnight reconfiguration of the aisles.

Time may be of the essence at Tesco, but Lewis must be allowed enough of it to address problems at root.