Tesco has emailed its customers encouraging them to visit stores in person rather than shopping online in a bid to free up delivery slots for vulnerable shoppers.
It has also announced that its shelves are well-stocked and that shops are receiving daily deliveries in order to keep product flowing freely.
The supermarket giant wrote: ‘We know that it’s difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We’re at full capacity for the next few weeks, so if you’re able to shop in-store safely instead of booking a delivery, it would be a great help.
Tesco has emailed its customers encouraging them to visit stores in person rather than shopping online in a bid to free up delivery slots for vulnerable shoppers
It has also announced that its shelves are well-stocked and that shops are receiving daily deliveries in order to keep product flowing freely
‘This will allow us to start freeing up more slots for the more vulnerable.
‘We’re looking at every opportunity to increase the number of slots available. As we increase our capacity, we’ll also set aside more of these slots for our most vulnerable customers.’
It has already increased its online delivery slots by 145,000, and is aiming to increase that number by hundreds of thousands in the next few weeks.
The superstore has also put measures in place on its website which allows those who are self-isolating to write in the delivery notes section if they want their groceries left on their doorstep.
For those who do shop online, Tesco has introduced a shopping limit of 80 items per order and has removed its multi-buy promotions in a bid to keep stocks plentiful for everyone.
The store announced: ‘Our stock levels are good, and we have daily deliveries to restock our stores.
The supermarket giant wrote: ‘We know that it’s difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We’re at full capacity for the next few weeks, so if you’re able to shop in-store safely instead of booking a delivery, it would be a great help’
‘We continue to encourage customers to buy only what they need, to help make sure there’s enough for everyone.’
The announcements come as other retail giants such as Sainsbury’s and Ocado made drastic changes to their shopping policies.
Sainsbury’s has now banned more than one person per household from entering its stores, while Ocado will no longer be delivering bottles of water.
The company says that the bottles take up too much space in delivery vans and are not an essential product in the UK as tap water is safe to drink.
A statement read: ‘During the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve stopped selling bulky, heavy bottled water. This small step frees up extra space in our vans, and allows us to deliver to 6,000 extra homes a week.’
It has already increased its online delivery slots by 145,000, and is aiming to increase that number by hundreds of thousands in the next few weeks
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 increase in panic-buying has lead to a surge in profits for supermarkets and Tesco is expected to post £1.8billion in profits as supermarket boss David Lewis prepares to step down after six years in charge.
It is set to record pre-tax profits, for the year to February, up from £1.56billion last year.
For those who do shop online, Tesco has introduced a shopping limit of 80 items per order and has removed its multi-buy promotions in a bid to keep stocks plentiful for everyone
Supermarket stocks, such as Tesco, have been broadly resilient as panic buying of essential items, such as pasta, flour and toilet roll, has helped to drive a surge in sales.
Supermarkets dealt with record levels of demand in March with combined grocery sales rising by 20.6 per cent in the last four weeks, according to figures released by Kantar earlier this week.
The survey also showed that Tesco sales were particularly strong and had jumped 5.5 per cent.
Ocado said the demand they had experienced was like trying to serve everyone at Glastonbury Festival every hour of every day for two weeks.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said: ‘With the largest UK online grocery business and the broadest network of distribution points, we also believe Tesco is best positioned to respond to any demand spikes related to Covid-19’.