Tesco extends Discounter range as it aims to reverse sales growth slip

The grocer, which originally launched 350 products under the banner in September, will introduce more impulse buys to the range.

The lines will be added in January and are likely to include products such as soft drinks, juices, crisps, snacks, biscuits and confectionery. There are also expected to be additional grocery lines.

A Tesco spokesman confirmed the 200 new lines but was unable to disclose the particular product types that would be on offer.

The Discounter range was introduced to fight back against hard discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, which Tesco admitted it had lost some of its custom to.

But there has been some doubt about the merits of the Discounter range. Some industry observers believe it has confused customers and others claim that household products – such as Daisy washing-up liquid – have been more successful than lines such as fresh food.

In its trading update at the beginning of this month Tesco reported its weakest like-for-like sales growth for more than a decade. The grocer said the performance was partly due to the popularity of its new Discounter range, which had knocked the value of sales.

Chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said that the Discounter range is “hugely successful, but it has driven down the average item price in the business”.

Tesco revealed the range now accounts for more than 5 per cent of its UK grocery sales and it has led to 300,000 more customers a week, slowing the stream of shoppers to Aldi and Lidl.