Tesco Public Limited Company is an internationally active British supermarket. It is the third largest supermarket in the world, in terms of turnover. The company was founded in 1919 as a stalls market group, specializing in food and groceries. It then diversified into the markets of books, apparel, electronics, furniture, toys, software, and even petroleum, financial services, telecommunication and internet access supply.
In November 1995, Tesco launched the Branch Specific Ranging (BSR) project. The idea was to adapt Tesco stores to the specificities of the areas in which they were located. This would have considered local competition and demographics. It had been decided that non-food products and other services would also be considered. However, after four months, no model was built and the project stagnated. The project facilitator then turned to a decision professional.
After only two days of participatory workshop with the consultant, two models have emerged. Some time later, the final model was tested in a real store and the results pushed Tesco to adopt it for other stores by the end of 1996. To adjust the project, the consultant also helped the firm to improve its value chain and information system in another two-day workshop. BSR is now a merchandising standard applied throughout the Tesco chain.
