Young are urged to shop in-store and make food last longer so elderly can use supermarkets’ overloaded online delivery service as Ocado chairman tells stockpilers ‘show restraint, nobody will starve’ amid coronavirus lockdown
- Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has written to customers about shopping during the crisis
- He has urged young and healthy people to shop in-store while social distancing
- He urged people to leave valuable delivery slots to the elderly and vulnerable
- Some stores have been forced to employ pub-style bouncers to keep order
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
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Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has urged his young and healthy customers to avoid shopping online to free up valuable delivery slots to the vulnerable and elderly.
Users of the retail giant’s online service have complained they are unable to secure a home delivery slot.
In his letter, he has asked those who can venture out to shop in-store – while taking appropriate precautions.
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has urged people who are fit and healthy to continue to shop in-store while adhering to social distancing rules to allow the elderly and vulnerable to use home delivery slots
These shoppers waiting to access a Tesco supermarket in London are adhering strictly to social distancing rules. The retailer placed marks on the floor to show the six foot six distance people should stay apart to reduce the risk of spreading the virus
Some users have complained they cannot get a delivery slot before April 15
The retailer has created sanitisation stations at the entrance to its stores where shoppers can wipe down the handles of their trolleys or baskets with a virus-killing gel.
Mr Lewis admitted there have been problems with the online service because of the overwhelming demand.
He wrote: ‘We also need your help to change the way you shop with us.
‘Try to shop with no more than one other person, which will help to reduce the number of people in-store at any one time.
‘Please use our cleaning stations to wipe your trolley, basket…If possible, use card or contactless payments.
‘Please avoid shopping during our dedicated times for vulnerable and elderly people, and NHS workers, and be kind to our colleagues as they’re working hard to serve you.’
Mr Lewis confirmed that the online shopping system has been overwhelmed. He asked people who are fit and healthy to use stores in order to free-up delivery slots for online orders to the elderly and vulnerable.
These shoppers pictured this morning outside a Tesco supermarket in West London are queuing to get in while keeping a sufficient distance apart in order to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus
He said the retailer was at ‘full capacity’ and expected this situation to continue for the next couple of weeks.
He said the firm was looking to increase the number of delivery slots in an effort to satisfy demand.
Ocado chairman Lord Rose repeated calls for shoppers to show restraint.
Britain’s supermarket sector is facing unprecedented demand during the outbreak as consumers stock-up fearing a prolonged period of isolation, while schools, pubs, cafes and restaurants have been forced to close.
‘The first thing is ‘don’t panic’. There isn’t going to be no food tomorrow,’ Stuart Rose told BBC radio.
Rose, a former boss of Marks & Spencer, contracted the virus. Having been in self-isolation he ventured out to the supermarket for the first time in two weeks on Wednesday.
He said Britons should avoid going to supermarkets at peak hours and only buy what they need.
He called on the country to ‘make your meals work’.
‘If you buy a chicken, roast the chicken, have the roast chicken dinner, the following day turn it into a stir fry, the following day make it into soup,’ he said.
‘You can make a relatively small amount of food go a long way and I think we live in a very profligate society today – we buy too much, we eat too much and we have to learn new ways.’
Ocado has been operating at capacity during the crisis. It said on Tuesday it had around ten times more demand for its services than it did before the outbreak began.