Sainsbury’s bans couples from shopping together in store in latest measure by supermarkets to cut queues and improve social distancing during coronavirus lockdown
- Staff will ask groups of more than one adult to choose who goes inside to shop
- It follows similar moves introduced at rival chains Tesco, Aldi and Waitrose
- Parents with children who can’t be left home alone will still be permitted entry
- Screens are also being installed across all manned checkouts in each store
Sainsbury’s has today banned couples from shopping together in its latest measures to help control the coronavirus crisis.
The supermarket giant says if more than one adult arrives at one of its stores, staff will ask the group to choose who goes inside to shop, with the others having to wait outside.
It follows similar moves introduced at rival chains Tesco, Aldi and Waitrose.
However, parents with children who can’t be left home alone will still be allowed inside the building, bosses added.
Sainsbury’s is banning couples from shopping together in its stores in its latest measures to help control the coronavirus crisis
It is the most recent policy change to limit the number of people walking around the shops and cut down on queuing times.
In a letter to customers, Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe wrote: ‘From today, we are asking everyone to please only send one adult per household to our shops.
‘This helps us keep people a safe distance apart and also helps to reduce queues to get into stores.
‘Our store teams will be asking groups with more than one adult to choose one adult to shop and will ask other adults to wait.
‘Children are of course welcome if they are not able to stay at home.’
The move follows similar announcements from supermarket rivals Aldi, Tsco and Waitrose, who also implemented a ‘one person per household’ policy.
Parents have claimed in recent days they’ve been prevented from shopping with their children as part of efforts to enforce social distancing, but Asda, Tesco and Aldi, as well as Sainsbury’s, have all insisted they are permitted to enter.
The company has also announced it will finish installing screens across all manned checkouts in each of its stores up and down the country over the coming days, while some of the limits it previously imposed on certain products are being lifted.
The supermarket giant says if more than one adult arrives at one of its stores, staff will ask the group to choose who goes inside to shop, with the others having to wait outside
However, customers will still be restricted in terms of how many popular items – including UHT milk, pasta and tinned tomatoes – they can buy at one time.