Sainsbury's Introduces Shopping Hour For Elderly And New Restrictions On Products
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Featured Image Credit: PA
From empty shelves to jam-packed aisles, as people rush to the supermarkets to stock up, many of us have been growing increasingly concerned over the elderly and whether they will be able to access the supplies they need.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, stores are starting to set guidelines, restricting products and introducing special opening times for the elderly so they can shop in a calm environment.
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Sainsbury's announced its new measures this morning in an email to all customers explaining that from Monday 23rd March disabled customers and those aged over 70 will be given priority for online delivery slots.
Added to this, on Thursday 19th March the first hour of shopping will be reserved for older shoppers across all 600 stores.
Following the one-off, it's reported Sainsbury's could roll this out into further dedicated hours, but this has not been confirmed as of yet.
We have listened to feedback from you and from Sainsbury's colleagues across the country and wanted to share some of the extra steps we are taking to make sure everyone has access to the items that they need pic.twitter.com/jRoCLm6CXt
- Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) March 18, 2020
The email, from chief executive Mike Coupe, explained that from Monday 23rd March, Sainsbury's will operate an expanded 'click and collect' service.
"We are significantly increasing the number of collection sites across the country over the coming days in preparation for this," it read.
"Customers can place their order online as usual and pick it up from a collection point in the store car park. We believe this will also work for people who are self-isolating."
In an effort to keep shelves replenished with more essential items, as of this Thursday, all Sainsbury's stores will be closing their cafes as well as meat, fish and pizza counters.
This will also assist in making space for other products both in the warehouses and in-transit.
There will now be restrictions on a larger number of products. From tomorrow (Wednesday 18th Match) customers can only purchase a maximum of three of any one grocery product and a maximum of two of any of the most popular items - including toilet paper, soap and long-life milk.
"We have enough food coming into the system, but are limiting sales so that it stays on shelves for longer and can be bought by a larger numbers of customers," added Mike.
The news comes after a series of other supermarkets implemented similar measures, including Iceland - which now offers a dedicated hour to older shoppers - as well as Ocado, Aldi and Tesco, both of which have also started restricting the number of products shoppers can purchase.
Topics: Life News, News, Sainsbury’s