Tesco is to halt 24-hour trading at 76 of its biggest stores owing to a lack of shoppers in the early hours.
The company, which began operating 24-hour stores 20 years ago, said just under a quarter of those currently open round-the-clock will now close at midnight and reopen at 6am.
Tony Hoggett, Tesco’s retail director said: “With the growth of online grocery shopping, these stores saw very few customers during the night.”
Tesco said the changes would allow staff to replenish products on shelves overnight. A spokesperson said 400 employees were being consulted about a change in their roles but it was hoped that there would not be redundancies.
“Those colleagues that are affected by the change will be supported to find alternative roles, either within the store or at another local store,” the spokesperson said.
Tesco scrapped 24-hour opening at two large stores in September last year as part of efforts to cut costs.
The supermarket is trying to boost profits and improve sales after a difficult few years in which it has faced increasing competition from the fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl, a supermarket price war, and a shift to shopping online.
