Case study — eCommerce Development & Project Management

Tesco — delivering a new eCommerce project for a global leader

We won the pitch, led the build, delivered 2 weeks early — and watched Tesco expand the project from 10 stores to 300+ nationwide.

Sector Retail — financial services

Services eCommerce development · SEO · Project management

Duration Project engagement

Outcome Expanded from 10 to 300+ stores

The problems

Highly sensitive customer financial data requiring maximum security and stability under peak traffic

Tesco’s own specification contradicted digital best practice in several key areas

Three separate teams — client, development, marketing — needed tight daily coordination across the project

High-profile PR launch deadline that could not slip — mainstream media coverage already lined up

The outcome

Expansion

10 stores grew to 300+ nationwide

300+

Tesco expanded the project nationally following a successful launch

Delivered 2 weeks ahead of the PR launch deadline

Sub-2 second page load times achieved throughout

Project featured regularly in mainstream news

How did we deliver it? Read the full story below.

2 weeks

delivered ahead of the PR launch deadline

10 → 300+

stores expanded to nationwide after launch

<2s

page load times achieved on a data-heavy platform

“We won the pitch because of the extensive commitment we had to secure and lean code, and our experience of leading blue chips to their own digital targets”

Project brief

An eCommerce web development for data capture and sales

Tesco had a plan to develop a highly secure, fast eCommerce website to support a new joint venture with Ramsdens Financial, enabling Tesco customers to get their gold valued and sold. My previous agency Zen won the pitch to deliver this eCommerce site and associated services.

Search engine friendliness and marketing support

Our web development team had to ensure the website met the highest technical standards of the day for speed, security and SEO indexability, especially given the highly competitive and lucrative market. We also supported a third party marketing agency in link building, content creation and advertising campaigns.

“Every web development can — and should — be brought in on time, in full, with the right strong project management”

Project delivery

Leading everything — technical, legal and brand — for a global retailer

Although you’d think a multinational blue chip like Tesco would have experts in place, our project team led everything in terms of legal and technical recommendations, working within tight brand guidelines throughout.

Robust and secure build

Using the award-winning Zen CMS, intense focus was placed on speed and security first given the sensitive financial data being stored against customer records. I liaised daily with Tesco on project updates, advised on changes and delivered the project 2 weeks before their PR launch deadline.

Offering web standards advice

I advised the Tesco Special Projects team on several areas where their specification contradicted digital best practice — all recommendations were taken on board.

“A clear commercial success that the hard work from all three project teams — client, development, marketing — deserved.”

Outcomes

Delivered early, expanded nationally

With website load times under 2 seconds, customer sign-ups increased week on week, resulting in Tesco expanding the project from 10 to 300+ stores nationwide. This eCommerce project was a clear digital success, regularly featured in the mainstream news.

Adhering to — yet where necessary challenging — tight corporate standards was the defining project management achievement. The result speaks for itself.

The result

Expanded nationally

10 stores grew to 300+ across the UK

Delivered 2 weeks early, with sub-2 second load times and a platform stable enough to handle peak traffic at national scale. Tesco expanded the rollout to 300+ stores on the strength of the launch.