2 weeks Ago
On this day in 2020, Tesco began implementing tighter purchasing restrictions as panic buyers stripped supermarket shelves amid fears surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak. Changes limited items such as anti-bacterial wipes, dried pasta, and toilet roll to two per customer. The company had to remove a food bank trolley from its Hove superstore after a customer reported it had been raided.
Tesco also announced that a number of its stores were operating at reduced hours due to 'operational reasons,' as stated on Twitter . Photographs circulated showing supermarket shelves across the UK cleared of food and essential goods, including toilet roll. The demand for groceries shifted online, with customers facing hour-long queues to access Ocado's website.
The company described the situation as experiencing an 'unusual' and 'very high' demand for its services, which led to its mobile app being taken offline temporarily. Similarly, Waitrose's website was also down due to a "high volume of visitors". The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) reported that its members, including independent corner shops , Spar, and Co-op, were managing to keep up with demand.
ACS's head of communications, Chris Noice, said: "People are now realising that the place where there is still stock is their local shop. "But with more people looking to self-isolate, and supermarkets reaching capacity online, I expect more convenience stores to offer home delivery services." He noted that while some stores already used delivery services like Deliveroo, 'more and more' were considering using their own vehicles to supply customers.
Despite tightening its restrictions from five items to two on certain products, Tesco insisted that stock levels remained "good". In response to a customer on Twitter who questioned why one of its 24-hour stores was closing at 10pm, the company explained that a "few" of its supermarkets would be temporarily operating on reduced hours. Later in 2020, it was revealed that the week ending 22 March 2020, which was just before formal lockdown was announced on 23 March 2020, saw 'the highest ever volume sales recorded', according to Public Health England.
[From the Bolton News of March 17, 2020].
