Dave Lewis: Tesco boss not afraid of Aldi and Lidl in run up to Christmas

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said he is not threatened by the top scores Aldi and Lidl received for their customer experience. Dubbed "Drastic Dave", he told IBTimes UK that he is confident that Tesco will build on last year's success.

"One of the things I learned over the last year is that Tesco really does excel at experience," he said. "Last year we offered by far and away the best shopping experience in store and we know very clearly what the customers want and that's the base on which we want to build our success this year."

Aldi and Lidl, which have been known for their cheap store lay out, were named top brands in terms of customer experience by Global Brand Simplicity Index, with Aldi coming first and Lidl third in the awards announced on Monday (9 November).

Among the Big Four UK supermarkets, shopping experience has been a major issue, as the grocers already suffer from stiff competition because of the German budget supermarkets' low costs and prices. However, Lewis said his plan is clear for the coming months.

"Do we have a plan to be really really active in store in the run up to Christmas? Yes, we do," he said. "I think as you'll shortly see, we'll do our advertising and we'll go about that but in a very different way."

"In advertising, you've got to be really really careful about who you're really talking to. Are you talking to each other or are you talking to your customers?"

Retail policies

At the Confederation of Business Industry's annual conference, Lewis took a swipe at economic and strategical policies by the current Conservative government in the UK. The Tesco boss said in his speech that he thinks the burden on retailers because of retail tax payments is disproportionately heavy.

Business rate bills have increased by 35%, more than three times the requirement by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), and policies such as the apprentice levy and the living wage have hit the retail sector significantly, Lewis argued.