Is there anything British grocer Tesco doesn’t do? First, they just sold food. Then they expanded to clothes, DVDs, even mobile phones. Later came plans to open a bank. Now, they’re saying they can predict the weather?
In the UK, plans for buying ribs for the grill on a sunny day can, within hours, be scuppered by rain. In response, the NY Times reports, the grocery giant has created its own software that not only forecasts weather but also predicts how shopping patterns will change with it.
Tesco says its system already predicted unseasonably cold weather this July, which led to increased sales of soups and puddings. The software could also cut down on waste from food that goes unsold, which may convey an eco-friendly message to those who see the grocer as nothing more than the British version of Wal Mart.
Sure, some may decry a big box retailer with its fingers in every piece of people’s lives, but hey, if we don’t have to hear the news from a leathery tan weatherman anymore, we’ll at least take Tesco’s forecasts.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.