Thanks to the recent amazing interviews with various ex-Tesco senior directors by George MacDonald of this parish, we learned there is clearly little love lost between ex-boss Phil Clarke and a number of his former colleagues.

Current chief executive Dave Lewis has already reversed a great number of Clarke’s initiatives and the business has certainly regained a lot of lost ground as a leaner, meaner retailer with a much stronger focus on the shopper.

Last week’s announcement that Tesco Direct is to be closed in the near future shows that Lewis continues to unpick the complex business that he inherited, ditching activities deemed as peripheral, distracting or unlikely to contribute to group profitability.

“Leahy infamously stated that Tesco was taking £1 in every £8 spent in the UK, but was hungry for more – sparking an onslaught of assorted Tesco ventures”

It’s worth remembering, in fairness to Clarke, that a number of the businesses that have been closed or sold since 2014 (Dobbies, Nutricentre, Tesco Direct and the third-party marketplace) were the brainchildren or acquisitions of Clarke’s predecessor, Sir Terry Leahy.

This was the era, remember, where Leahy infamously stated that Tesco was taking £1 in every £8 spent in the UK, but was hungry for more – sparking an onslaught of assorted Tesco ventures selling (from memory) tyres, carpets, bathrooms, cars and kitchens, as well as launching Tesco Gold Exchange.

On the one hand, this reflects laudable ambition, while on the other it is symptomatic of a sense of not knowing when to stop.

Direct’s demise

For Tesco Direct itself, there was a cogent logic behind it: creating a general merchandise destination that could fend off the likes of Amazon and Argos while complementing Tesco’s supremacy in online grocery.

The range and service were both pretty decent, but I often got the sense that other specialists were giving Tesco a real test in many categories.

On the occasions when I tried the click-and-collect service, the experience was generally fine when I used the dedicated desk.

“Queuing up behind a dozen smokers and Lottery enthusiasts to pick up some new saucepans was not something I would encounter if I were an Amazon or Argos patron”

But when this was incorporated into the tobacco counter, my conclusion soon became that queuing up behind a dozen smokers and Lottery enthusiasts to pick up some new saucepans was not something I would encounter if I were an Amazon or Argos patron.

Ultimately, the decision has been made as the venture itself has failed to turn a profit. With dedicated distribution facilities and, presumably, lower-than-anticipated sales, Tesco has sadly concluded that the scope for Direct to be earnings-accretive is limited and that calling it a day is the best (if regrettable from a workforce standpoint) option.

Tesco has pledged that a few of the Direct categories will be flipped to the main grocery site, enabling shoppers “to purchase general merchandise, clothing and groceries all in one place”.

This makes a great deal of sense in terms of replicating the ‘one-stop shop’ appeal of Tesco’s physical stores, as well as maximising synergies between two previously separate parts of the business.

What this move really underlines is a less-is-more philosophy running through not just Tesco but UK retailing in general. The ability to correctly pick your battles these days is as important as your ability to win them.