Tesco plans to significantly increase both the number of Tesco Direct and grocery click & collect points at UK stores by the end of 2012, according to press reports.

150 grocery Click & Collect destinations by year end

Tesco is expanding its grocery Click & Collect business, planning to have 150 drive-through pods in its stores' car parks by the end of 2012. The Click & Collect concept has been well received by customers who like the convenience of online shopping but would rather pick up their goods than wait at home for delivery.

Earlier in the year Tesco CEO Philip Clarke said that the business would also be rolling out Tesco Direct Click & Collect to over 700 Express stores by the end of the year. Tesco's Director of Internet Retailing, Ken Towle, has now confirmed the number of these collection points will rise from 774 in April, to 1,000 by the end of the summer.

Making online retailing more accessible

With online grocery retailing sales forecast to grow 68% from now until 2015, Tesco is continually looking at new ways to take advantage of this growth. The growth of Tesco Direct Click & Collect, combined with its plan to increase the number of products it sells through the website to 200,000 by Christmas, will further strengthen Tesco online non-food business. With grocery Click & Collect, the roll-out of destinations is more challenging, given orders often consist of between 60-75 items and require mixed temperature storage.

Expanding the concept internationally

Last year Tesco's UK online sales grew by 10%, with international online sales rising 40%. Tesco is following an ambitious strategy to open online retailing in all of its markets over the next few years, with Poland and Thailand targeted as the next two markets to come online, following the launch of online operations in Prague last year. Ken Towle also confirmed that Tesco would trial its Click & Collect service in the Czech Republic later this year. Trials in Tesco's US convenience store operation Fresh & Easy are also being discussed.

Commenting of this development, Towle said, 'It’s something customers will enjoy, many of the markets that we’re going to be introducing this into are very much less mature than Tesco, so in many markets we will be pioneering.'

Take the opportunity to hear more about Tesco's online operations at IGD's Trading in a Digital World conference on 17 October. For more about the event and to book your place please click here.

For more insight into Tesco's supply chain operations in the UK and around the world please click here.