Tesco to scrap F&F clothing website to simplify online shopping

The supermarket giant will close down its dedicated clothing site, clothingattesco.com, in June and integrate its F&F offer into its Tesco Direct platform.

Tesco said the change will make the online shopping experience easier for customers by allowing them to buy clothing and general merchandise products within the same order.

It comes less than a year after big four rival Sainsbury’s launched a standalone website for its Tu clothing label to make the range available to shoppers across the UK.

The full Tu clothing range was previously only available in 160 Sainsbury’s stores, while “a selection” of clothing is sold in more than 400 of its shops.

Asda also has a separate website, direct.asda.com, selling its George clothing, home, furniture and garden ranges, while Morrisons sells its Nutmeg clothing lines through its main groceries website.

A spokesman for Tesco, which initially launched its F&F website back in 2009, said: “To serve shoppers better, we want to make shopping at Tesco as simple and easy as possible.

“To provide customers with a comprehensive view of all the non-food products we offer, we will be bringing our F&F online store together with Tesco Direct.

“This means that customers will be able to add clothing and general merchandise products to the same basket and place as one order.”

The move comes as Tesco boss Dave Lewis continues his turnaround efforts at Britain’s biggest grocer.

Last month, the retailer posted a statutory pre-tax profit of £162m for the year ending February 27, 12 months after it slumped to a whopping £6.4bn loss.

Lewis has regained competitiveness in Tesco’s core UK business as investments in price, the launch of its Brand Guarantee initiative, the appointment of 9,000 additional shopfloor staff and the introduction of its entry-level Farms brands contributed to a 0.9% uplift in like-for-likes during the final quarter of its financial year.

He has also been shoring up the grocer’s battered balance sheet, selling off its Korean business and exiting unprofitable stores. The move to axe its standalone F&F clothing website will contribute further cost savings.