Coronavirus: Sainsbury’s to ease stockpiling restrictions on products
Sainsbury’s will begin removing coronavirus stockpiling restrictions from its supermarket goods from this Sunday, it said today.
The supermarket said a combination of more supply and panic buying measures means there is finally more stock on the shelves, prompting it to ease stockpiling measures.
Restrictions are no longer in place on Easter eggs. However, buying limits will remain on Sainsbury’s most popular items, including UHT milk, pasta and tinned tomatoes.
“People have been queuing to get into our stores when they open in the mornings,” said Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe.
“But customers are now finding they can shop at any time of the day and feel confident in finding most of what they need.”
Sainsbury’s shopping restrictions meant customers could not buy more than three units of the same product. And restrictions meant customers could only buy two of popular goods like toilet paper and soap.
Morning Wire has asked for a full list of items that will remain subject to buying limits.
Sainsbury’s boosts online delivery slots
Sainsbury’s also announced it will have 600,000 online delivery and click and collect slots by the end of next week. It had 370,000 such slots a fortnight ago.
“We will continue to add more capacity over the coming weeks,” Coupe said.
The supermarket will also now only admit one shopper per household to its stores in a bid to further curb the risk of coronavirus spreading.
“This helps us keep people a safe distance apart and also helps to reduce queues to get into stores,” Coupe said.
“Children are of course welcome if they re not able to stay at home.”
The stockpiling restrictions were put in place after panicked shoppers left shelves empty in supermarkets across the country before the UK coronavirus lockdown began.
Sainsbury’s step to ease those stockpiling restrictions comes after Aldi, Waitrose and Morrisons all announced they would lift limits earlier this week.
Aldi has lifted restrictions on most items that limited shoppers to four purchases of each product. But toilet roll, pasta, hand wash, UHT milk, bleach and canned goods remain subject to the limit.
Morrisons raised its per-item limit from three to four per shopper in a move to encourage customers to donate to food banks.
And Waitrose has lifted restrictions on all fresh food purchases.