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Coronavirus: What are shops doing about stockpiling? Coronavirus: Can supermarkets provide regular online deliveries?
(3 days later)
Shoppers are being told to buy only what they need, following shortages caused by panic buying. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the nation to stay at home and - apart from essential trips to the shops - use online delivery services for food.
So, what can be done to get supplies back into stores? However, supermarkets' online delivery services seem to have no spare slots, and special schemes to prioritise elderly and vulnerable customers are facing issues.
How many people are panic buying? So how can Britain buy food easily?
Empty shelves in the UK's supermarkets have become a common sight. There is plenty to go round
The increase in demand has been similar to that seen at Christmas, according to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary George Eustice. The good news is that there is no shortage of food for everyone. As has been reported before, empty shelves have been caused by panic buying by shoppers, stripping the shelves of goods the second they are put out.
It has caused shortages of many products, including: Supermarkets have confirmed that the issue is not lack of supplies, but the speed with which they have been bought.
"There is £1bn more food in people's houses than there was three weeks ago, so we should make sure we eat some of it," said head of the British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickinson. However, the stores have taken action to combat this by introducing strict purchase limits on individual items.
What is the government doing about panic buying? They have also cut opening hours to give staff time to properly restock shelves.
Retailers say they have enough food and groceries to go round, but they are struggling to get items into stores as fast as people are buying them How are online deliveries holding up?
This has been a sticking point for many people, who are finding themselves unable to stick to Mr Johnson's request.
Slots for the next two or three weeks seem to be fully booked at all the main supermarkets.
Tesco is operating at full capacity online and is encouraging shoppers who can get out to use its click and collect service at local stores, to free up home delivery slots for more vulnerable customers. Asda is adopting the same policy and is also recruiting more delivery drivers.
Sainsbury's has introduced priority slots for elderly and vulnerable customers and contacted 270,000. It hopes to contact more once it has more information on eligible people. In the meantime, it is giving an additional 8,000 customers a day access to delivery slots over the phone.
However, there are reports on social media of people who qualify who were not contacted, saying they cannot get through on the phone to set up an account.
Morrisons is creating 3,500 new jobs to help expand its online delivery service.
Waitrose is currently not showing its slot-booking page as all slots have been taken, but is working to increase its capacity, while Ocado, which also delivers Waitrose food, has very lengthy waits on its website.
What are supermarkets doing in-store?
The supermarkets have introduced allotted times of the day when only the elderly, vulnerable and disabled, or NHS staff and other key workers, can shop.
Most are also introducing social distancing measures.
Tesco is introducing directional floor markings for different aisles in some of its larger stores to help ensure a safe flow of people.
Morrisons and Waitrose are bringing in marshals to control how many people can enter and exit stores at any one time.
Many supermarkets are putting up screens between cashiers and customers.
Several food retailers are "drastically cutting" the range of products they sell. They are also telling manufacturers to stop making some products to focus on those for which there is greatest demand.
For example, Tesco is concentrating on two and four-pint milk cartons, rather than the one-pint ones, as most people are buying for the longer term, while Morrisons has reduced its bakery lines from 17 to seven.
And one retailer, which makes 60 kinds of sausages, will only produce a fraction of those.
How are supermarkets trying to stop panic buying?
The major supermarkets are imposing limits on how many of each item people can buy:
What is the government doing?
Rules have been relaxed by the government to allow supermarkets to work together.Rules have been relaxed by the government to allow supermarkets to work together.
This means they can share resources, such as distribution depots, delivery vans and staff, as well as co-ordinating stock levels across the country.This means they can share resources, such as distribution depots, delivery vans and staff, as well as co-ordinating stock levels across the country.
Rules around drivers' hours have been eased and the 5p plastic bag charge is being waived for online orders, to speed up deliveries.Rules around drivers' hours have been eased and the 5p plastic bag charge is being waived for online orders, to speed up deliveries.
Nevertheless, shortages remain common.
"Buying more than you need means that others may be left without," said Mr Eustice. "As you shop think of those who are finishing their late shifts and need to pop to their local shops."
How are supermarkets trying to stop panic buying?
The major supermarkets are imposing limits on how many of each item people can buy:
What else is being done for customers?
On Thursday, Sainsbury's dedicated the first hour of opening in stores, apart from its Local shops, to elderly and vulnerable customers. It has since extended that to include NHS staff and social care workers.
Morrisons said on Sunday that it will introduce an "NHS hour" across all of its stores, where healthcare workers can shop for groceries between 07:00 and 08:00 from Monday to Saturday.
It is also taking on 500 staff from Marie Curie and CLIC Sargent charity shops to help the elderly and vulnerable in stores across Great Britain.
From Monday, all Waitrose shops will set aside a proportion of all basic food items from every delivery especially for NHS workers too.
Iceland has also been opening an hour early for elderly and vulnerable people, and Tesco is introducing a similar scheme.
However, retail expert Katie Hardcastle, said supermarkets could still do more: "A lot of elderly people need support with their shopping, or are not looking to go out at all, so I think that needs looking at."
Many stores, including Tesco, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl have said they are hiring thousands of staff to meet the unprecedented demand. Some have shut cafes and deli counters to allow more staff to focus on restocking shelves.
Tesco has said it will introduce distancing measures at checkouts to reduce the risk of infection and Aldi is installing clear screens at all its checkouts.
Why there could soon be less choice
Several food retailers are "drastically cutting" the range of products they sell. They are also telling manufacturers to stop making some products to focus on those for which there is greatest demand.
For example, one retailer, which makes 60 kinds of sausages, will only produce a fraction of those.
And Morrisons has reduced its bakery lines from 17 to seven.
Are online deliveries holding up?
Online deliveries are being used by more people, but there are questions over how robust the systems are.
Ocado suspended its website and app after struggling with the number of bookings.
Some Tesco deliveries are not arriving in their scheduled time slot and others are not being delivered at all if the driver runs out of time.
Most major supermarkets have all their delivery slots booked up for at least the next couple of weeks.
Morrisons said it would increase its number of delivery slots by recruiting 2,500 extra pickers and drivers.
Sainsbury's says it is going to prioritise delivery slots for elderly and vulnerable people.