Wide aisles and new labels - how Tesco is taking the battle to Aldi and Lidl with Jack's

Jack's doesn't feel like being in a Tesco (Frankfurt: 852647 - news) .

The labelling is different, the layout, the checkouts, the uniforms (they don't have them - just aprons). The aisles are wider. Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) the flooring is different.

The Tesco connection isn't a secret. There is a big sign on the front of the store, emblazoned with the name Jack's, and including a line at the bottom saying that it's part of "the Tesco family".

:: Tesco takes on Aldi and Lidl as Jack's store unveiled

But nor is that link pushed. Wander round this store and you could comfortably leave unaware that your money was going towards the biggest supermarket in the country.

And that, of course, is what Tesco are after. A fresh concept, one that doesn't feel like a mini-Tesco, or a Tesco-lite, or any other derivation. It's supposed to be different. And it is.

Let's start with those aisles. Walk around Jack's, and it feels wider and more spacious. That means three things - firstly, that a reluctant supermarket shopper like me feels less claustrophobic and hemmed in by the shelves.

Secondly, it means you have less shelf-space to stock products - but, then again, that's the point of a store like Jack's.

But thirdly, and perhaps most interestingly, it also means that it's easier for staff to get past the trollies of customers, in order to stack the shelves. Gaps can be filled quicker.

To that end, Jack's also has more products that are presented on pallets, which can be wheeled in straight from the stockroom. Or else items are brought to the shop in cardboard boxes that quickly convert into trays to speed up the process of getting them on to the shelf.

The gap (Frankfurt: 863533 - news) under the shelves has been covered over, so things don't get lost underneath. It also makes it quicker to sweep and clean. The flooring is reckoned to be cheaper to lay than normal stores, but just as resilient. This is a shop that has been designed from the floor up.

Out of 2.600 products on sale, about 1,800 carry the Jack's brand. Those are the things where we, as consumers, don't seem to be too obsessed with labels. Breakfast cereals, cooking ingredients, pasta, fruit, dairy products and lots of household products.

But then there's confectionary - and it turns out that we still want branded chocolate bars. Yorkie bars can't be replicated, it seems, and nor can Lea and Perrins sauce or, for that matter, Tampax or Coca-Cola.

There's an onus here on people getting in and out quickly. There's an app that lets you tot up your shopping as you go along so you can rush through payment. I reckon you could comfortably amble round the Chatteris shop in 10 minutes, collecting a basket of shopping as you go.

And you will, of course, pass through the central spine of the shop, branded as the "when it's gone, it's gone" area. This was the home for the one-off items, the things that crop up at Aldi or Lidl and entice you. The punchline to the story of when you went out to buy milk and came back with a tyre-wrench and a heated blanket.

In Jack's, there was a dog basket, a Star Wars light (tempting), obligatory unicorns, things for mobile phones and so many other things. To this shopper, it felt a little bit forced and incoherent - but maybe that incoherence is the point. You never know what's going to crop up, or when you might fancy buying a dog basket on impulse. One person's bric-a-brac is another person's bargain.

There are clues to the parentage. The packaging around the fresh vegetables looks similar to the Tesco equivalents, and the descriptions are often identical.

Some of the Jack's products are, clearly, Tesco own-brand equivalents with different labels and a lower price. But mostly, this feels like a different shop. Look round the wine section, for instance, and you'll see lots of interesting bargain choices that you won't find in Tesco.

Yes, it does have the feel of an Aldi/Lidl tribute act, but that's kind of how retail works - one person has a great idea, someone else ends up copying it. But fundamentally - as it prepares to open its doors, Jack's feels like a proper, sensible concept.

If you like the choice of giant supermarkets, this isn't for you. But if you want to get it all done in 10 minutes - then yes, Jack's works.