Supermarkets swamped by online demand means customers now face a three week wait to get their groceries delivered.
Shoppers took to social media in their droves to complain about the lack of delivery slots for Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and the Co-op.
In a desperate attempt to fill in the gaps and get food to the public many are hiring more delivery drivers including Morrisons who announced it is creating 3,500 jobs to help meet demand.
It comes as Britain’s coronavirus death toll has today risen to 137 as Scotland’s individual fatality toll doubled overnight and Northern Ireland confirmed its first victim of the life-threatening infection.
ASDA says it will only let customers buy up to three of any products in store or online
Sainsbury’s are introducing priority booking slots for the those aged 70 and over from Monday
The Co-op is making its opening hours shorter to replenish items and so staff can work at their best
Sainsbury’s are introducing priority booking slots for the those aged 70 and over from Monday.
Tesco are in the process of setting up contingency plans, however, a spokesman was not specific to MailOnline.
Meanwhile Britain’s biggest online-only supermarket, Ocado, has stopped new customers from signing up as the business is overwhelmed by orders from people staying indoors to avoid the coronavirus pandemic.
The retailer said it will be out of action until March 21 due to ‘a simply staggering amount of traffic’ as more and more Britons self-isolate.
Aldi is limiting 4 units for every product from milk and bread to baked beans
Empty Shelves are seen here at at Tesco Superstore in Kent. All supermarkets have faced a major upswing in demand for some items, with shelves emptied of toilet paper, many canned goods and cereals
All supermarkets now face a major upswing in demand. Most are still taking online orders but customers have complained that delivery slots are not available for up to three weeks.
Ocado has had temporarily shut down its website to give itself breathing space amid ‘unprecedented strain’ as orders streamed in from new and old customers – who will now not be able to edit existing orders or book a new delivery until Saturday.
The retailer said it is ‘prioritising deliveries for existing customers’ and would announce when it is ready to serve new shoppers.
Morrisons announced it is creating 3,500 jobs to meet surging demand for its home delivery service caused by the pandemic – including 2,500 pickers and drivers along with roughly 1,000 people to work in distribution centres.
Most supermarkets are still taking online orders customers have complained that delivery slots are not available for up to three weeks
The Co-op is opening for slightly shorter hours and issued a statement to explain
Sainsbury’s are introducing priority booking slots for the those aged 70 and over from Monday
Ocado´s delivery service has been overwhelmed by the number of new orders (file image)
London now faces plunging deeper into lockdown within days amid fears the ‘superspreader city’ is driving the UK’s coronavirus outbreak, with residents in the capital set for tighter restrictions on their movements and the Army prepares to help out in the crisis.
Panicked Brits spend an extra £60MILLION stockpiling in one week
Sainsburys in Wandsworth, London, March 18 in the wake of coronavirus panic buying
Panic-buying Brits spent an extra £60 million on stockpiling in the first week of March alone – including an additional £17 million on toilet roll alone, almost twice as much as the same week a year earlier.
It shows, for the first time, just how much is being forked out by worried consumers as they began to realise the seriousness of the outbreak.
The figure could have been a lot higher if supermarkets had not run out of some essentials such as hand sanitiser, medicines and dried food in the first few days of the corona crisis.
The data, from industry analysts Nielsen Scantrack for trade ‘bible’ The Grocer shows spending on the 12 most popular stockpiling products rose to £124 million in the week ending March 7th, up from £66 million for the same products 12 months earlier.
Sales of children’s medicines rose 124 per cent year on year to £2.5 million in those first seven days of panic and adult analgesics were up 102.5 per cent to £3.6 million.
Toilet rolls, which have become the signature grocery product of the coronavirus epidemic in this country, saw an 88 per cent rise – or £17.6 million – to go from £20 million to £37.6 million.
Other items on every hoarder’s shopping list include bath and shower products, up 95 per cent, the same as household cleaners, with an extra 91 per cent spent on facial tissues, 91 per cent more on UHT milk and 74 per cent on pasta, for instance.
But this all came before the most recent measures, said The Grocer.
A spokesman added: ‘Spend across the 12 most popular stockpiling categories reached £124m in the week ending 7 March 2020, up from £66.6m the year before.
‘That was before the public was advised to avoid unnecessary travel and contact with others, which has prompted a fresh wave of panic buying.’
Supermarkets have since tried to ration sales in some cases or open up early just for the elderly so they can get what they want before the mad rush to fill trolleys full of loo rolls and dried pasta.
Percentage increases in panic buying essentials during the week ending March 7 – compared to same week in 2019 – are as follows:
- Children’s medicine – up 124.1 per cent
- Adult analgesics – up 102.5 per cent
- Bath & Shower products – up 95.6 per cent
- Household cleaners – up 94.8 per cent
- Facial Tissue – up 90.9 per cent
- UHT milk – up 90.7 per cent
- Toilet tissue – up 87.9 per cent
- Cough, cold and flu cures – up 79.4 per cent
- Pasta – 74.0 per cent
- Canned meat – up 73.1 per cent
- Ambient soup – 61.1 per cent
- Canned pasta – up 60.0 per cent
Environment Secretary George Eustice has stressed that there is ‘significant resilience in our food supply chain’ and that there is not a shortage of food – but the challenge we face is ‘getting food to shelves in time when people have been purchasing more.
He said that the Government has set aside delivery curfews so lorries can run around the clock and relaxed driver hours to make sure deliveries can take place more frequently.
Schools in England will shut on Friday but the Government said they will remain open to the children of ‘key workers’ – a category that will likely include NHS staff, teachers and delivery drivers.
Tesco is facing a high demand for online deliveries, and is encouraging customers to choose Click and Collect for grocery shopping to help the supermarket prioritise elderly and vulnerable people.
The retailer will package food in plastic bags for those self-isolating, with drivers leaving groceries for them.
John Lewis Partnership said 2,100 members of staff from the department store business are helping to work at Waitrose stores on deliveries.
The company also launched a £1 million community support fund to be distributed by Waitrose shops to local communities.
Ocado drivers have been instructed not to interact directly with customers when they deliver orders, instead leaving shopping bags on doorsteps and calling customers on the phone. The company has not yet revealed how they will cope with the huge increase in demand.
‘The impact of higher basket values and order demand, amid growing public concern over the coronavirus, was limited in the (first) quarter, although this has since picked up significantly and growth in the second quarter is so far double that of the first quarter,’ said Ocado Retail chief executive Melanie Smith.
A spokesman for trade publication The Grocer said that is a shortage of store pickers, or vans or goods to meet the unprecedented demand.
‘Staff are being redeployed, where possible, and manufacturers and wholesalers are working tirelessly to repivot supplies that would otherwise be going to cafes, pubs and restaurants, but the supply chain is being jammed by the sudden and unprecedented levels of demand, and change in consumption behaviour,’ the spokesman added.
‘As to the role consumers can play, it’s really important that where they can, shoppers visit stores. It’s reached a point where online grocery shopping may need to be reserved for the elderly and the sick, rather than those who are working from home.’
Despite its increase in business, Ocado sounded a cautious note, keeping its financial guidance steady for the year, as an increase now could give way to a fall later, as customers burn through their stockpiles.
‘We expect the impact of forward-buying, however, to unwind at some point,’ Ms Smith said.
She added: ‘I am tremendously proud of my colleagues and the outcomes we have achieved in the first quarter. I am confident that our resilience, teamwork and commitment will stand us in good stead to continue to deliver for our customers even with the current uncertainties.’
Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard said ‘there are millions already in food poverty and this is now an immediate family emergency for many of those’.
He added: ‘With food banks running low on food, many volunteers of food banks over the age of 70 and soon needing to self-isolate, what steps is he taking to assist those in genuine hunger today?’
Mr Eustice replied: ‘I’ve been in regular, daily calls with the food supply sector that included discussions around food banks and we are in dialogue with supermarkets to ensure we can make sure they get access to the supplies that they need.’
Ocado Retail’s revenue jumped by 10.3% to £441.2 million in the first quarter of the year, which Ms Smith said was largely not affected by the spread of Covid-19.
Ocado revealed that they would be prioritising their existing customers while they cope with increasing demand for deliveries
Morrisons has announced it is creating 3,500 jobs to meet surging demand for its home delivery service caused by the pandemic – including 2,500 pickers and drivers along with roughly 1,000 people to work in distribution centres (pictured: Advertisements for the jobs)
Ocado has closed down access to its website until Saturday as it struggles to deal with demand due to stockpiling during the coronavirus outbreak. Shoppers will not be able to edit an existing order or book a new delivery for the next few days
‘However coronavirus unfolds, what is clear is that the fundamentals at Ocado Retail are strong,’ she said.
The supermarket also said it is ‘on track’ to switch over its partnership with Waitrose to instead deliver Marks & Spencer goods.
As part of the deal for Ocado to deliver for M&S, the high street giant took a 50% stake in its online peer for £750 million last year.
The average number of orders placed on Ocado jumped 10.2% to 343,000, while the average order value was up by just 28p to £110.24.
Ocado has closed down access to its website until Saturday as it struggles to deal with demand due to stockpiling, and shoppers will not be able to edit an existing order or book a new delivery for the next few days.
The announcement comes as some supermarket chains have started to impose strict rationing measures on items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk to curb Covid-19 panic-buying.
The online supermarket said it will be out of action until March 21 due to ‘a simply staggering amount of traffic’. The announcement comes as some supermarket chains have started to impose strict rationing measures on items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk to curb Covid-19 panic-buying. (File photo)
Ocado said the closure will enable it to carry out essential work that will help to ensure distribution of products and delivery slots is as fair and accessible as possible for all customers going forward.
A message on the company’s home page, from Melanie Smith reads: ‘Like all supermarkets, we are working round the clock to keep up with high demand and make sure all of our customers get what they need at this time – especially those more vulnerable and in isolation.’
Customers stocking up across the country is intensifying as supermarkets under mounting pressure are taking drastic rationing action in a bid to deal with the unprecedented demand for goods.
Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket, will impose restrictions on all customers to buying a maximum of three products per line from Thursday, as it copes with the high demand from the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced.
Britain’s grocery industry has struggled for over a week to keep shelves stocked in the face of stockpiling, which worsened on Tuesday despite weekend appeals for calm from supermarket bosses and politicians.
But experts have asked why supermarkets have introduced different limits on certain goods, creating confusion for customers and competition among rivals.
It comes as Ocado shoppers have been sharing stories about how their entire grocery orders have been cancelled without notice.
Some affected customers said they only discovered their groceries weren’t coming after logging on to Ocado’s overstretched website – where getting access to an account has taken over 30 minutes.
Yesterday a message from the company’s CEO Melanie Smith went out to customers, apologising for the delivery issues and revealing that the Ocado app would be temporarily taken offline due to ‘performance issues’.
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Frustration: Many Ocado shoppers reported not receiving their orders, with no warning
On Mumsnet earlier this week, one shopper revealed she’d had no warning about her order not arriving and said she felt she now was more likely to panic buy because she had no food
The Ocado app has been shut down due to technical issues, the company told shoppers
Empty pasta shelves in Tesco in Ely, Cambridgeshire, at 8am – just two hours after the store opened today
All the major supermarket chains have been affected by the deepening coronavirus crisis. Sainsbury’s has announced it is closing its in-store meat, fish and pizza counters and cafes from tomorrow to free up lorry and warehouse capacity, as well as shelf-stacking time, for essential items to be replenished.
The supermarket will restrict people to only buying three of any single grocery item, in addition to a two-item limit on the most popular goods such as toilet paper and long-life milk which is already in place. From March 23, disabled customers and those over 70 will take priority for online delivery slots.
Morrisons plans to create 3,500 new jobs and expand its home delivery operation to help it deal with coronavirus.
Aldi became the first UK grocer to introduce rationing, limiting customers to buying four items of any one product during each visit.
Tesco followed suit by limiting shoppers to five items, and Asda has introduced a limit of three items while Iceland will only open to elderly, vulnerable and disabled shoppers on Wednesday mornings.
Despite the stringent new measures, shelves at a Tesco supermarket in Ely, Cambridgeshire, were stripped bare just two hours after the store opened this morning.
And customers at an Asda Walmart in Waterlooville, Hampshire, were queuing outside the door at 6am this morning and within just one hour, shoppers claim shelves were empty as worried households continue to stockpile against government advice.