Tesco opening more ‘dark stores’

It sounds very sinister (especially if you already have suspicions about Tesco) but it seems to be more about the firm’s response to booming internet orders.

According to The Guardian , Tesco is to build a national network of online-only stores as it looks to cash in on the surge in internet grocery shopping. Nicknamed "dark stores" in the industry, they are not open to the public but are used to assist nearby shops where staff cannot keep up with orders placed by online customers.

There’s strong evidence that shoppers are turning their backs on the weekly trek to the supermarket (with wider problems on the High Street ), which is probably why Tesco is cutting back on store openings to focus on its web arm, where sales are expected to double to more than £5bn in the next five years. Apparently the company already has four dark stores in London with two more to open, and it was scouting other cities, including Birmingham and Manchester, for locations.