Tesco still pondering social media

Social networks might seem ubiquitous for consumers who have been used to them for years, but many of the biggest players in the retail world are still figuring out what their role is on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Tesco has been ahead of the pack on many recent technical developments in retail, but its chief executive of retailing services and group strategy director Andrew Higginson said at this week’s National Retail Federation conference that the company is uncertain about its role on social networks.

Despite the focus on personalisation - involving cross-channel personalised marketing, and shopping lists that could be created based on past purchases - all retailers are aware there’s a fine line between convenience and intrusion.

Higginson said of social media: “We haven’t put money on that as a bet at the moment. We are trying to understand it. It’s a fine line to walk. We don’t want to intrude on customers’ conversations with their friends.”

CIO at French grocery giant Groupe Casino, Stephane Bout, agreed retailers need to be careful and listen carefully to consumers on the issue of privacy. He said: “We need to let consumers discuss and exchange things themselves, and not be intrusive.”

Both companies have built some kind of social element into their own websites, allowing consumers to interact with them on a personal level, but don’t use Facebook or Twitter as much.

The emerging ideas on social media for grocers are in stark contrast to clothing retailers such as Asos.com and Aurora. Social networks are a crucial part of marketing and branding for them, but grocers are more focused on using technology to make the customer experience easier and quicker and may not be so reliant on the marketing opportunity Facebook offers. Instead, they are rushing to use the data they own to market directly to each individual customer.