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Tesco dominates net shopping with £2m loo rolls
UK goes bananas

By Jo Best

Published: Wednesday 23 August 2006

Tesco has spread its dominance of UK retail into online shopping and now bestrides internet grocery deliveries like a colossus.

According to statistics from research company comScore, Tesco has 66 per cent of the UK's online shopping market. Its nearest rival, the Wal-Mart-owned Asda chain, took 16 per cent, with Sainsbury's following close behind with 14 per cent.

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The supermarket chain, which accounts for £1 in every £8 spent on the UK high street, is now the largest online grocer and takes around 30,000 orders per day which are collectively worth £2.5m.

Tesco has bananas and loo roll to thank for its success, says comScore, shifting 11 million of the former in the first seven months of this year. Analysis also revealed that Tesco shoppers are a discerning lot - the supermarket's biggest revenue generator this year was Luxury Soft Toilet Tissue 12-packs, racking up more than £2m in sales.

Other favourites among shoppers were bulky items that are traditionally a chore to transport from supermarket to home, and fresh fruit and veg with a relatively long shelf life, comScore said.

Interestingly, Tesco still managed to secure its top spot despite not maintaining the cheapest delivery charges. Tesco clocked up an average delivery cost of more than £4, compared to Sainsbury's of around £3 and Asda's average cost of £5.50.

Earlier this year, Tesco revealed it made £1bn during the last financial year from online grocery sales, which account for three per cent of sales overall.

Though Tesco may have broken the billion barrier, the majority of Brits still prefer pushing a real rather than virtual trolley. According to statistics out today from the Office of National Statistics, just 20 per cent of UK adults get their food from the net.