Demand coincides with fewer staff
Click-and-collect and delivery services for groceries in Shepparton are under pressure due to demand from thousands of residents currently in quarantine.
A spokesperson for Coles said supermarkets in Shepparton, Shepparton South and Mooroopna had also been impacted by staff being told to quarantine, while at the same time demand for online shopping had increased.
“We have introduced a number of measures to enable us to continue to serve the community,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes reducing trading hours and reducing capacity for home delivery and click-andcollect.
“We are working hard to increase capacity; however, we have unfortunately had to cancel a number of home delivery and click-and-collect orders that we have been unable to fulfil. We understand this has caused some frustration and we appreciate our customers’ patience during this time.”
Customers in home isolation can send friends and family to pick up their click-and-collect orders.
“We ask all customers to check in every time they visit one of our stores. QR code posters are located at the front of the store, in-store on sanitiser stations and at the checkout, so customers can check in at any time while they do their shopping,” the spokesperson said.
Woolworths is under the same pressure, with a spokesperson confirming a large number of staff had had to undergo testing and could not work until they returned a negative result.
“As a consequence, we regrettably don’t have enough team members to fulfil our normal online order volumes for the local community,” the spokesperson said.
“We understand this is frustrating for our customers and apologise to those who have had orders cancelled or rescheduled.”
Woolworths is prioritising deliveries to vulnerable community members, including those in mandatory self-isolation, through a priority assistance service.