Tesco "scaling back" on consumer electronics

UK grocer Tesco has announced it is "scaling back" on consumer electronics as it focuses more on food, clothing and health and beauty products.

It’s also providing less space in stores to other non-food categories like toys, stationery and home products such as gardening, DIY and car accessory goods.

"We’re actively withdrawing from non-food categories like consumer electronics," said Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke. "They’re high value but low margin. By taking out those high-value low-margin sales, we’ll still make more profit selling food and our business will be better for it.

"Our UK plan is all about food and related general merchandise.

"It’s a wholesale change that we’re making to the categories and to the space and it’s going to take us quite a while to do. But we are very excited by some of the changes that we’re beginning to see coming into new stores, into refits and of course into the ranges that we’re putting together for autumn and winter and spring/summer 2014."

MCV sister site ToyNews has learnt that Tesco is making changes to its smaller stores first; later this year its larger stores will have space reallocated for non-food categories. You can read the full story here.