Stores act to combat panic buying
AS people have been stockpiling everyday essentials like pasta and toilet roll due to coronavirus, supermarkets have been forced to act.
That means our favourite supermarkets, including Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, have limited access to some items.
The British Retail Consortium has also written to customers urging them to stop panic buying items.
Supermarkets have had to crack down on shoppers who have been stockpiling in-demand items such as loo roll, hand gel, antibacterial spray, pasta and tinned goods.
Major retailers around the country, including Costco, have seen shelves stripped bare.
The government has urged people not to panic buy and says there will be
enough items for everyone.
TESCO
Milk, pastas and anti-bacterial wipes all have a five-item maximum on the number people can buy.
The restrictions started online on Sunday morning and in stores on Saturday afternoon.
The supermarket has sold out of many types of pasta online.
WAITROSE
Waitrose is restricting online sales of certain anti-bacterial soaps and wipes.
The supermarket is in talks with supplies to increase orders, reports the BBC. Some stores have also introduced their own restrictions at a local level.
MORRISONS
A post on the Morrisons website, reads: “You may notice that delivery slots for our online groceries service are becoming less readily available as demand for home deliveries increases.
“You will also discover that there is a maximum order number on selected products so we can make sure our customers still have access to essential products.”
ASDA
A post on the Asda website, reads: “Like most retailers, we have seen a heightened demand for products both in stores and online – particularly on items like hand sanitizer and cleaning products and as a result, have implemented a two item limit on purchasing these items.
“Whilst we are doing everything we can to maintain the availability of products for all our customers, we are asking our customers to shop responsibly in our stores and online so that everyone has access to the essentials.”
SAINSBURY’S
The supermarket will be setting a limit of five units per customer on a small number of products such as hand wash, toilet rolls and cleaners.
ALDI
Aldi has restricted all items in its store to four units. The budget chain tweeted to say it had seen an “unprecedented demand” across its range and its wants to make all of its customers can purchase everything.
It added: “All our stores remain open and continue to serve our valued customers.”
OCADO
Toilet roll has been rationed to two 12-packs per customer.
The website and app crashed earlier in the week as people rushed to buy food. “In this time of unusual demand, we have made the call to temporarily prioritise deliveries for you, our existing customers.
“This means, after today we will not be processing new customer bookings for the time being,” it wrote on Facebook.
“Naturally, we are very sorry to have to disappoint anyone that chooses Ocado, and we’re working hard to increase our delivery capacity.”
BOOTS
The High Street chemist Boots has restricted the sales of hand sanitisers to two per person.