Tesco´s IT competitive Advantage?

I wouldn´t be so sure to say that Tesco enjoys an IT advantage, however I do recognize that is has a solid infrastructure that makes it the top leader in the UK supermarket sector. Tesco has developed an extraordinary database of its clients which provides Tesco on a daily basis habits, preferences and customer needs. But this database was created many years ago when they decided to launch the Green Shields Stamp with the objective of giving back something to the customer and mainly with the objective to gain the customer´s loyalty. After these stamps, it was the turn of the Clubcard that enforced customer loyalty towards TESCO and continue to provide information about needs and habits of the customers. It became one of the most important marketing tools Tesco had and it was a competitive advantage face towards other super markets. In 1996 and thanks that they were constantly informed about their customer needs they decided to launch TESCO.COM with a simple investment, growth came very fast and although online sales represent a small number of Tesco´s total revenues, it growing speed is significant and has also encourage them toward opening new online markets overseas, for example the in US where they got associated with an online supermarket. In my opinion, Tesco´s contribution in this company will be the know how to operate online markets and sales, whereas the US company will have to provide expertise about the US market needs. IT for this company will be developed but it will not be necessarily copied from Tesco´s because I do not find Tesco´s IT can be considered extraordinary, but I consider it a regular software over a market that now a days exists in many supermarkets all over the world.
Considering how fast IT gets to the business world and considering that now a days many supermarket chains have access to this kind of IT, I see Tesco´s strength in their brand awareness, their infrastructure and their strategic database of the UK market. They have a great opportunity to grow sales in the online markets as well as continuing developing market stores but nevertheless this competitive advantage is a result of their long history and development of the stores and not because of an IT advantage