Selling next to the UK's biggest grocery platform
Tesco describes its marketplace as a chance to reach a large, engaged customer base on the UK's largest grocery platform, including tens of millions of Clubcard members. It is selective: you apply to sell, and Tesco says it works with sellers who share its focus on quality, trust and reliable customer service.
The shopper is different from a pure marketplace buyer. Many arrive with a grocery basket already open and add a garden hose, a toy or a pet bed on the way. They trust the Tesco name, and they will judge Tesco by how your parcel turns up.
What Tesco expects of a marketplace delivery
Tesco's customer help pages are unusually plain about the model. Marketplace products are delivered directly by sellers, by post or courier, and sellers arrange deliveries using their preferred method and fulfilment partner. Marketplace items never travel with a Tesco Home Delivery, Whoosh or Click+Collect order, even when they are bought at the same time.
Tracking reaches the customer two ways. Once an order is confirmed the seller emails delivery updates, and the customer can also check the order in their Tesco account or app. That makes accurate, prompt dispatch status essential: if the update is late or wrong, the customer sees it inside Tesco's own app.
Tesco also notes that big or heavy marketplace products may need specialist delivery. Bulky lines are a normal part of this channel, so storage and packing have to suit awkward sizes as well as small parcels. Dispatch and cancellation standards are set in your seller agreement, and we work to the handling time you commit to there.
How Tesco Marketplace orders flow through Smart
Once your Tesco Marketplace account is connected, orders drop into our system automatically. Each is picked from your single stock pool, packed to your spec and handed to the carrier that fits the parcel, including DPD, Evri and Royal Mail. Every parcel is tracked with proof of delivery.
Tracking and order status go back to Tesco as the parcel leaves, which is what the customer then sees in their account. Stock levels sync back too, so the quantity on tesco.com reflects what is on our shelves, not what was there yesterday. Orders placed before 9pm are dispatched the same day (cut-offs vary by carrier, service and daily order profile).
Tesco alongside your other channels
Few sellers start on Tesco. It is usually added to an existing mix of a brand website and other marketplaces, which is why one stock pool matters. Returns are received, graded and restocked with reason codes, and the account has a named contact, Andy Paine, so a Tesco query gets answered by someone who knows your stock.
