Tesco to watch customers’ weights with new loyalty card features … South Australia shoots up state economic rankings … Bunnings UK to expand

By Dominic Powell and Emma Koehn.

UK supermarket giant Tesco will be involved with a trial of a new feature of its Clubcard loyalty program, in which doctors and health professionals will be notified of the fat content of shopper’s trolley.

The Sun reports the trial will be rolled out as part of a study done by University of Oxford researchers, with doctors in the Oxford area asked to nominate 112 at-risk patients for the trial.

“This is not the nanny state at work as these people are volunteering and are already willing to try and change their eating habits,” Oxford University’s Dr Carmen Piernas-Sanchez told The Sun.

After shopping, customers will get advice from a nurse or doctor on how to reduce the fat and cholesterol content of their diet. Tesco has said the customer data would not be shared without permission, and the program would be entirely optional.

South Australia shoots up state economic rankings

Commonwealth Bank’s fourth and final State of the States report for 2017 has seen South Australia jump from sixth to fourth place off the back of strong business investment and low unemployment, but New South Wales has maintained its lead.

Tasmania and Queensland were shunted to fifth and sixth place as a result, with Tasmania dropping in overall economic growth, and Queensland heading into the negative on construction work.

Western Australia has maintained its position at the bottom of the rankings, followed closely by the Northern Territory. The full rankings are below.

1. New South Wales

2. Victoria

3. Australian Capital Territory

4. South Australia

5. Tasmania

6. Queensland

7. Northern Territory

8. Western Australia

More sausage sizzles on the way for UK as Bunnings expands

Wesfarmers-owned hardware giant Bunnings will continue its quest to conquer the UK market, with reports the chain is looking to open 20 stores in Britain by the end of the year.

Bunnings entered the British market this year after Wesfarmers acquired UK hardware outfit Homebase for more than $700 million in 2016.

In August Wesfarmers reported the brand lost $89 million in its first months of operation in the UK.

The Australian reports the retailer is set to open 20 stores in the UK market by the end of 2017, and could buy or lease up to 100 sites in the coming years to expand the brand.

At Wesfarmer’s annual results presentation this year, chief executive Richard Goyder said the opening of stores in the UK was a complex long-term project.

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