UK shoppers spent 10.8billion in supermarkets in the four weeks to March 22

[Janet Brum]

https://www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproj ... tions.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Aldi, Morrisons, Waitrose and ASDA become first supermarkets to ease product restrictions brought in to cope with stockpiling frenzy as Tesco ramps up home delivery services during coronavirus lockdown

Aldi, Morrisons and Waitrose have become the first supermarkets to ease product restrictions brought in to cope with stockpiling - as Tesco ramps up its home delivery service during the coronavirus lockdown.

All the major supermarkets imposed restrictions this month keep shelves full after Brits panicked due to the pandemic and stocked up on supplies.

The stores have been so packed that British supermarkets were the busiest they have ever been this month, with sales 20.6 per cent up on the previous year amid the coronavirus panic-buying craze.

Aldi, Waitrose and Morrisons are all relaxing restrictions for shoppers, but Tesco and Sainsbury's are keeping theirs in place at the moment.

Asda, meanwhile, is removing limits on fruit and vegetables and chilled products.

German discount grocer Aldi has said it is relaxing shopping restrictions for a raft of products across its UK stores.

The supermarket introduced a blanket limit of four of every product after reports of panic-buying from customers in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It said it will also continue limit customers to only two of its most popular items, which include antibacterial hand gel, UHT milk and baby formula.

Items such as nappies, bleach, toilet roll, pasta, tinned tomatoes, beer and hand wash will be limited to four items per person.

Waitrose is removing a cap on all fresh food, alcohol and Easter products, but some restrictions still apply.

MaiOnline has contacted the supermarket to ask what items are still restricted.

Morrisons is upping limits on some items from three to four a customer.

It comes after shoppers spent £10.8billion in supermarkets in the four weeks to March 22, bringing sales levels even higher than during the Christmas period.

New data reveals Britons spent an extra £1.9billion on groceries than they normally do at this time of year and made 79million extra shopping trips.

The week before the Prime Minister put the country on lockdown on March 23 was the busiest, with sales up 43 per cent on last year.

Figures show that 88 per cent of British households visited the shops between March 16 and 19, making an average of five trips each.

Sainsbury's had the biggest growth in year-on-year sales at 22.4 per cent, followed by Tesco with 20.1 per cent, Morrisons with 19.3 per cent and Asda with 17.2 per cent. Online grocery sales were also up 14 per cent on last year.

In other developments Tesco has ramped up its home delivery and Click & Collect services after a surge in demand in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The supermarket giant said it has grown its delivery and collection capacity to around 780,000 slots this week, up from 660,000 slots two weeks ago, with plans to increase this by another 100,000 in the coming weeks.

It added more than 200 new vans and recruited another 2,500 drivers and over 5,000 pickers, as part of the delivery expansion.

It comes after shoppers reported difficulties in securing online delivery slots on the back of soaring demand.

Last week, Tesco said it was limiting shoppers to only 80 items per online order.

Dave Lewis, Tesco chief executive, said coronavirus has “led to unprecedented levels of demand for grocery shopping services”.

He added: “We’re doing everything we can to increase the number of slots available and to support vulnerable people.

“Through a series of measures including more drivers, pickers and vans, we’ll expand the number of slots available each week; but this still isn’t enough to meet the demand.

“For this reason it is vital that customers who can come into stores and shop for themselves do so - so we can free up as many slots as possible for vulnerable people.”

[POSTMAN]

I went shopping yesterday, Asda.
Got there at 8:45,( NHS peeps were already in)we started going in at about 8:55, I got in at 9:30.

I was very surprised at what was there, every time I have been in the last couple of weeks there has hardly been anything anywhere.
But it was practically fully stocked, not much pasta, bread flour or normal flour, some tinned stuff, but it was like normal, I was pleasantly surprised.

And for the 1st time in about 2 weeks, I managed to buy some toilet roll!

Fingers crossed this hoarding s**t has stopped.

[Janet Brum]

I hope so, I didn`t go to supermarkets in 2 weeks, I have limited spare time and I`m being put off by the masive queques.

Thanks God for the small shops where I can go in and out to buy my bread and milk.

[wacko74]

Apparently that's £2bn up on usual levels.

It makes the 10% temporary pay rise that some supermarket staff are getting look pretty pathetic, I bet it only adds up to a fraction of the profit made on that additional £2bn spent in the supermarkets.