Feeling pressure online:
SHOPPERS racing to book deliveries ahead of the new national lockdown in England have put supermarket websites under pressure.
Major chains reported problems with their apps and websites after Boris Johnson’s announcement on Monday evening.
Sainsbury’s app temporarily went down, Tesco experienced online issues and Morrisons and Ocado were forced to place shoppers in virtual queues.
Websites appeared to be running largely as normal yesterday, but with little availability for home deliveries.
Sainsbury’s said it had temporarily limited access to its online groceries service on Monday night to ‘manage high demand for slots and updates customers were making to existing orders’. A spokesman added: ‘We are continuing to monitor the situation and are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.’
Tesco said it will be reviewing its item limit for online baskets, as well as product restrictions across popular items such as toilet rolls, antibacterial wipes and pasta. Shoppers used social media to air their frustration.
Writing on Twitter, Auld Bryan said: ‘Ocado have already introduced their virtual queue process on their app. It’s March 2020 all over again.’
Meanwhile, there were reports of panic buyers stocking up on items such as toilet rolls despite supermarkets saying there is plenty to go around.
Pictures shared by shoppers suggested shelves in some stores have been stripped of essentials.