Will Free Fruit Help Differentiate the Tesco Shopping Experience?

We all love free - and what's not to like about free fruit as we begin our journey of discovery around one of 800 Tesco supermarkets? The catch? The free fruit will only be for people aged 16 and under - and it's one piece only...

Reuters report here on the latest tactical marketing action by Tesco as it seeks to protect its market share from the frenzied efforts of Aldi, Lidl and the rest.

I can't imagine the cost of operating the free fruit scheme would amount to much in total, even if every young person grabbed a banana, apple or pear. After all, there is plenty of fruit in every supermarket and a huge volume goes to waste.

So, I'm left wondering why the offer only applies to young people and also whether it will make much difference to customer loyalty?

The Waitrose free coffee offer had a significant impact on store visitors (much to the annoyance of many traditional Waitrose customers).

A piece of fruit? I'm not so sure.

I think I'll just grab one anyway and see if anyone complains.

After all, I always try a few grapes from the bunch before adding them to my shopping basket...