As part of my job, I get to answer some questions that come in from Tesco shareholders who have attended recent Annual General Meetings, particularly those related to new technologies or services visible to customers.
One shareholder wanted to know why two of the mobile apps we have in the public domain, Tesco Finder and Tesco Clubcard, are not integrated together. The shareholder felt that it must be more costly running them separately. I have responded to the question via the Shareholders' response team but I thought I should echo it here as quite a few people must have asked themselves this question.
The reason for having two apps (in fact we have three apps in the iTune store - Tesco Finder, Tesco Clubcard, and Tesco Wine Finder) is because their origins and objectives are very different. However we will be integrating clubcard, finder and the forthcoming grocery application in a future build (hopefully by the end of 2010).
Tesco Finder and Tesco Wine Finder come from our R&D team - these applications were built as prototypes to see if customers would find them useful. They were created (and are supported) at very low cost inside the Tesco.com R&D team, and are listed under the "Tesco.com R&D Team" account on iTunes. We are still taking both these applications on a 'journey' based on continuous customer feedback and making sure that the supporting data is reliable and consistent. For example, we are hoping to include store layouts in a future edition so that customers can sat-nav their way around an unfamiliar branch to find all their favourite products easily.
Tesco Finder still has some work to improve the accuracy of finding barcodes in our product range, and it needs to be improved to easily answer the customer's question; "What are the nearest branches that currently stock 'this' product?", which it doesn't do at all well at the moment. It also doesn't have an up-to-date branch list, which is really annoying some customers and is a high priority to fix.
On the other hand, the Tesco Clubcard is much more of a known entity and was built as a production application from scratch. There aren't really any "unknowns" for this application. Joining it shortly will be the Tesco Grocery mobile application (currently in user-acceptance testing). These are full production applications, although once again built and supported at low cost.
In order to bring the functionality of all these applications into one integrated Tesco application, we are currently forming an internal mobile development team who will build these applications for all kinds of mobile phones, not just iPhone. We'll be appearing on all the major handset manufacturers offerings.
The R&D team exists to work with customers and staff to help improve their experience with Tesco - but where there are 'unknowns' we would rather keep the applications separate until we are happy that they are working flawlessly and customers find the functionality genuinely useful.
Showing posts with label clubcard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clubcard. Show all posts
Monday, 19 July 2010
Sunday, 16 May 2010
UPDATED: Tesco Clubcard iPhone Competition / App Download Stats
The iPhone Clubcard application has now reached just under half a million downloads and the new improved version of the application which accesses your live Clubcard points balance should be available in the App Store any moment! We've taken off the old original version so newcomers to the app don't end up having to download and set up their Clubcard application twice in one week.
The new version went live on Friday evening and we had 72,708 downloads/upgrades for the iPhone Clubcard app on Saturday 15 May alone!
Tesco have joined up with the UK newspaper News Of The World to bring you a great competition to win one of five iPhones. Correctly answer the question, "Who created the iPhone?" and you'll be entered into the prize draw. I understand that the competition closes on 25th May 2010 even though it says 18th May on the page you link to! Link here:
UPDATED: Tesco Clubcard app for Blackberry launches / download stats
The Tesco Clubcard application, first launched on iPhone, has just become available to owners of RIM Blackberry smart phones.
The application can be viewed by following the link below or you can install it by following the same link on your device (you will need to install App World first if you haven’t already).
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/8986
Ben Martin, the developer behind the app, reports that so far the application has been downloaded 20,649 times when he looked this morning (Monday 17 May). This morning we notice that it has just been added to the App World Carousel (see the image below - click to enlarge) which we think will significantly enhance downloads. The carousel is the first screen that consumers see when they launch App World on their device and is a short list of popular applications selected by RIM.
We also have access to data that detail what device or cellular provider the application has been installed on. Ben reports that currently the most popular device is the BlackBerry 9700 - 40% of downloads of the app have been to this model - and the most popular cellular provider is Orange over which 39% of downloads have been conducted.
The application can be viewed by following the link below or you can install it by following the same link on your device (you will need to install App World first if you haven’t already).
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/8986
Ben Martin, the developer behind the app, reports that so far the application has been downloaded 20,649 times when he looked this morning (Monday 17 May). This morning we notice that it has just been added to the App World Carousel (see the image below - click to enlarge) which we think will significantly enhance downloads. The carousel is the first screen that consumers see when they launch App World on their device and is a short list of popular applications selected by RIM.
We also have access to data that detail what device or cellular provider the application has been installed on. Ben reports that currently the most popular device is the BlackBerry 9700 - 40% of downloads of the app have been to this model - and the most popular cellular provider is Orange over which 39% of downloads have been conducted.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
New version of Tesco Clubcard iPhone app submitted
We've submitted a new version of the Tesco Clubcard app to the Apple iTunes App Store.
As well as continuing to feature the on-screen barcode which can be scanned at most checkouts, the updated Tesco Clubcard app now gives you access your live points balance if you have a cellular or wifi internet connection:
As well as continuing to feature the on-screen barcode which can be scanned at most checkouts, the updated Tesco Clubcard app now gives you access your live points balance if you have a cellular or wifi internet connection:
A second feature of the app is to allow you to calculate just how many points you can accumulate in a year, in order to use as vouchers or use with Clubcard Deals. The calculator uses sliders that you set when estimating your weekly, monthly and yearly shopping habits with Tesco:
The page scrolls down and covers all aspects of shopping with Tesco from weekly food and fuel shopping to use of Clubcard credit card, electricity and gas bills (where you earn Clubcard points whether due to a partner agreement or paying the bill with a Tesco Clubcard payment card), insurance, mobile phone top-ups, clothing, entertainment, health & beauty, and even Tesco Opticians and the Tesco Direct catalogue:
Once you have set the points level, you can then get an estimate of the savings you'll make in pounds and pence over the year, both in vouchers and deals:
The Tesco Clubcard is free from the Apple iTunes Store and, if you already have the app, the free update will be automatically downloaded when you next use iTunes online or access the 'App Store' icon on your iPhone. Click here to start iTunes to go straight to the app download page.
The updated application, like the original, was built by Ben Martin of Tesco PLC's Group Technology & Architecture team. Ben, you've done a great job!
Monday, 8 February 2010
Tesco Clubcard iPhone app launches
Off we go on our journey to bring a great Tesco Clubcard experience directly to your mobile phone!
Clubcard is Tesco’s way of saying thank you for shopping with us - it’s easy - simply scan your Clubcard every time you shop. For every £1 you spend on qualifying products at Tesco, whether in-store or online, we’ll reward you 2 Clubcard points.
However if you’re like me, sometimes your Tesco Clubcard sometimes doesn’t quite make it to your wallet, or it’s slipped down the bottom of your bag and you can’t find it. The good news is that my iPhone is always on me so wouldn’t it be a great idea if it could quickly display the barcode of my Clubcard when I’m next at the checkout? The first version of this application is quite simply to do that - bring a virtual version of your Clubcard to your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Start the application the first time, type in your Clubcard details, and from then on whenever you start the app, it quickly displays the barcode seen on your plastic card which can be scanned at our checkouts. No more worries about losing points.
That’s just the start of the journey - we intend to do lots more with this app in the future, such as display your points balance - we’re even looking at finding ways of bring e-vouchers straight to your Clubcard app so you can use them at the checkout directly from your phone.
The application was written by Ben Martin, a member of the 'Group Technology & Architecture' team (Tesco PLC's larger version of Tesco.com's R&D team!) and I think he's done a great job as well as being excited by what he can bring to the app in terms of new features as he continues work on this project with the Clubcard team.
Anticipating your questions:
So the application just displays the barcode? Can’t it do anything else?
Not in this very first version. The aim is that, because you love your iPhone you are more likely to have it on you when you approach the Tesco checkout, so it is simple to display the barcode and earn Clubcard points. Once you have this application on your iPhone we will be introducing more features to it over the coming weeks and months.
I notice that the account for this app is "Tesco PLC" and not "Tesco.com R&D Team". Do you have two accounts now?
Yes we do! Our work with Tesco Finder and Tesco Wine Finder has excited people all over Tesco, and a cross-functional team is being put together to create great applications for all kinds of Tesco "stuff" - indeed a complete mobile and device strategy that goes way beyond iPhone. We want to be able separate mainstream production applications from prototyping apps of the sort we have launched (and will launch) under the Tesco.com R&D Team banner, thus the launch of the Tesco PLC account. We'll use this difference across all 'app stores' and downloads for your phone or device, so you know what to expect.
The difference is that Tesco PLC apps are fully supported production-quality creations, and Tesco.com R&D Team apps are experimental prototypes that we bravely try out on you to see what you think, notwithstanding the fact that we intend these apps to have a nice long shelf life and we are happy to support them within the team.
The application is not accepting my Staff Privilege Clubcard number or Republic of Ireland Clubcard number. Why?
The number ranges are different for these Clubcards and we can’t verify them at the moment. We’ll bring you this feature very soon, though.
How do I find the Tesco Clubcard app?
Go to the App Store on iTunes or your iPhone and search 'Tesco" or "Tesco Clubcard". If iTunes is installed on the computer on which you are reading this entry, try this link:
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