Tesco helps users to sort out their things

02-05-2007

by Ciara O'Brien

Tesco has teamed up with global item registry MyThings to allow customers of its online Tesco Direct shop to keep track of their valuables online.

The Tesco Direct store sells everything from electronic goods to home furnishings, while MyThings helps users protect their valuables.

Under the deal, shoppers who buy through the Tesco Direct site will have the option to open a MyThings portfolio, where the details of the items they have bought, including model number, purchase date and location, will be automatically added, free of charge. Members can then add other items they already own to their portfolios.

MyThings members will have access to a range of benefits from relevant accessories, product information and downloads, to warranties, insurance, and free valuations. They can also use a web service called 'Trace' that will help them to recover lost or stolen valuables.

Trace compiles information from more than 50 sources, including local, national, and international police. The database is searched by auction houses, dealers and consumers to ensure that goods offered to them for sale are not reported as stolen or missing.

"The MyThings portfolio should prove popular with our customers, while Trace improves consumer protection in the wider community," said Tesco Direct chief executive Steve Robinson.

MyThings has signed a number of other partnerships with large UK retailers, including Halfords, Jessops and Goldsmiths. However, the deal with Tesco Direct is the company's largest online retail partnership to date.