By now, most of us will be familiar with the sight of empty supermarket shelves – either because we’ve been faced with them in our local store, or seen other shoppers’ photos of them on social media. From loo roll to tinned tomatoes, pasta and UHT milk, a whole range of products are disappearing from supermarkets faster than they can be restocked, as many race to stockpile household essentials and store cupboard staples in the face of fears of coronavirus shortages.

As is becoming increasingly obvious, though, for every shopper that goes overboard stocking up, another goes without.

The UK’s leading supermarkets previously write an open letter urging shoppers to ‘be considerate in the way they shop’ and buy only what they and their family need. It also stresses that retailers are working around the clock to make sure stores have enough stock to go around.

One 17 March the Prime Minister said he was absolutely confident supply chains were working and said there was 'no reason to stock pile or panic buy.'

When so many around you may be losing their heads over coronavirus shortages, here are the facts you need to keep yours.

What are supermarkets doing about coronavirus stockpiling in stores?

To prevent hoarding of certain products, many stores are now limiting the number of the same product you can buy in a single transaction:

Aldi announced via Twitter that it would allow customers to buy a maximum of four items of any product across its stores, but has scrapped this rule. Customers can now buy as many as they want on most items, though the four item limitation remains for hand wash, toilet roll, certain canned goods and alcohol. You can also only purchase two of these essentials – antibacterial gel, UHT milk and baby formula.

Tesco has relieved its three item limit on most stock. In a few specific product areas the regulations still apply, including toilet rolls, household and personal cleaning products, hand sanitisers, tinned goods, pasta, rice, eggs and home baking.

Sainsbury’s previously stopped shoppers buying more than three of any particular food item, but has lifted buying restrictions on most products to help those shopping for others. Limitations are still in place on its popular goods, including toilet paper, soap, antibacterial products, long-life milk, tinned goods and pasta. No limits apply to Easter eggs.

ASDA is also stopping shoppers from buying more than three of any particular food item. The same applies for toiletries and cleaning products. Though it has removed all limitations on fruit, vegetables and chilled products.

Waitrose introduced a three-item limit on certain products and a two-item limit on toilet roll. However, it has lifted the cap on all fresh foods – meat, fish, poultry, fruit and vegetables can now be purchased freely. Alcohol and most Easter treats are also not subject to limits.

Morrisons has increased the limits of some items from three to four per customer and plans to remove some restrictions altogether to make it easier for customers to donate to food banks.

On that note, if all you can find are bars of soap, rather than liquid hand soap, it's still better than nothing. If you're using a bar of soap, immunologist Dr Darshna Yagnik advises rinsing your hands using warm, running water before you lather them up, to reduce the number of microbes you might leave on the soap itself. Before you finish washing your hands, rinse the soap under running water before replacing it in the soap dish.

How are supermarkets preventing coronavirus shortages?

Despite what a trip to your local supermarket might lead you to believe, the British Retail Consortium has said that there is actually ‘plenty of stock available’ in supermarket supply chains. The challenge is to get it into stores and onto shelves to keep pace with the rate at which it’s being bought. It has also said that retailers have ‘well-rehearsed’ plans in place to respond to peaks in demand.

In an email to customers, Sainsbury’s has outlined some of the steps it is taking to keep up with demand. Alongside the obvious, such as ordering more stock from suppliers, it has increased capacity in its warehouses and distribution centres and put more lorries to boost the number of deliveries it is making to its stores.

Morrisons has also announced it is expanding its online delivery service. The retailer said it will be creating 3,500 new jobs due to demand for deliveries, too.

Tesco and Asda have temporarily changed the trading hours for their 24-hour stores, so that staff have enough time to restock shelves for the morning flurry of customers. These branches of Tesco will now be open from 6am to 10pm, whereas the Asda equivalents will be open from 6am to 12am.

Waitrose is implementing measures in stores by limiting the amount of people allowed in store at any one time.

Image Source Getty Images

What is the government doing to ease coronavirus shortages?

Meanwhile, the Government has relaxed rules around when supermarkets are able to receive deliveries – usually deliveries can only be made at certain times to minimise disruption to local residents.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: ‘By allowing night time deliveries to our supermarkets and food retailers we can free them up to move their stocks more quickly from their warehouses to their shelves.’



The Government is also planning to extend the number of hours delivery drivers can be on the road (they’ll still have to take the same regular breaks for safety reasons), which should help stores restock faster but will also help make online grocery delivery slots more readily available.

How is coronavirus stockpiling affecting online shopping?

If you’ve tried to book an online groceries delivery in the last few days, you’ll know that available slots are few and far between. And, as of 18 March, Ocado has shut down its app due to continued high demand. Meanwhile, their website has a virtual queue of about two hours for existing customers only.

Whilst some retailers are still accepting new registrations for online shopping, delivery slots are few and far between. To free up slots for the elderly and vulnerable, supermarkets are encouraging those who can visit stores to do so. Social distancing policies are now in place at all major supermarkets.

Tom Werner Getty Images

What are supermarkets doing to help elderly people in the face of coronavirus shortages?

Iceland was the first supermarket to announce that it was looking at ways to help elderly shoppers avoid being caught up in crowds of panic-buyers. Two of its stores (one in Belfast and one in Kent) initiated the move by extending their opening hours to allow elderly customers to shop in peace. Now, all stores are dedicating the first hour of trading to vulnerable and elderly shoppers. This will be particularly important to those aged over 70, who may soon be facing a lengthy spell of self-isolation. The retailer is also limiting all online deliveries to those who are vulnerable or over state pension age. Iceland have also announced the final hour of the shopping day is exclusively for NHS staff with ID.

Sainsbury's has also announced it will introduce measure to help elderly and vulnerable shoppers. It says that, as of 19 March, the first hour of shopping will be dedicated to older and vulnerable people in its 600 UK stores every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Moreover, it has also also said that from 23 March customers who are over 70 or disabled will receive priority delivery slots. NHS staff will also receive priority slots during the first half hour after stores open every day.

On 18 March, a letter sent my ASDA's CEO to customers said the retailer has made the decision that on Friday 20 March, from store opening until 9am, larger stores would make themselves available exclusively for the elderly and vulnerable. The retailer asks shoppers who are outside these groups to hold off on doing their shopping in ASDA stores until after 9am on this day. On 21 March, ASDA also announced extra measures to help NHS staff. Large ASDA stores will prioritise their access every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8-9am for NHS staff.

Tesco has also announced it will begin to have priority hours for the elderly and vulnerable. Shoppers who fall into these groups will be given a priority shopping hour from 9-10am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, except in Express stores. The retailer has also announced that from Sunday 22 March it will dedicate one hour to shopping for its workers and NHS staff before opening. This will run every Sunday in its larger stores. It asks that NHS staff bring some proof of ID to show they work for the NHS.

Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.

SIGN UP