The UK’s leading supermarkets are looking to cut back on the services their offer, ration more products, and increase support for vulnerable customers amid the coronavirus crisis.
Sources quoted by Reuters yesterday stated that supermarkets are working on plans to streamline their operations by cutting cafes, counters and other services to enable a potentially depleted workforce to maintain basic provisions and keep shelves stocked.
Over the weekend food retailers came together to appeal to shoppers to stop panic buying during the outbreak, saying purchasing more than they need will mean others are left without.
Executives are said to be working on plans to keep the stores running if large numbers of their staff become ill or if the outbreak forces the closure of nurseries and schools, which would escalate workers’ child care needs.
“What (products) we can and can’t get is the least of our current challenges,” one unnamed supermarket executive told Reuters. A government decision to close all schools would be “a binary moment,” they added.
Another source at a supermarket group told the news agency that planning was focused on: “What would it take to keep the store running?”
The source said this could involve a more streamlined operation in individual stores that would keep them running with less staff. Options could include temporarily closing in-store cafes and fresh food counters.
The supermarket industry has stressed that there is no shortage of food in the system. However, distribution networks are over-stretched, and so some shelves are being left empty.
Another source said: “You’ve only got so many trucks and so much picking ability within the suppliers’ warehouses and depots. And then have you got enough people in the stores, once it arrives, to actually replenish the items on shelf.”
Reports have suggested that supermarkets want to be able to co-operate with rivals to keep food supplies going in case stores are forced to close in some areas due to a staffing crisis or virus outbreak. The British Retail Consortium’s Chief Executive Helen Dickinson yesterday confirmed that talks centred on relaxing competition laws had taken place
Supermarkets are ramping up plans to help meet demand from shoppers for essential provisions, with more sections of the population – including the vulnerable and elderly – preparing for long term self-isolation during the outbreak.
Aldi has become the first supermarket to introduce across-the-board rationing, which means customers can buy no more than four of any single grocery product. Other chains have also started restricting sales of items such as toilet roll, cleaning products, tinned food, pasta, and medicines.
Meanwhile, Iceland is encouraging its store managers to dedicate the first two hours of opening on Wednesday morning to the elderly and vulnerable people in their community. The retailer said: “We are giving them the flexibility to offer this wherever possible, and arrangements will be publicised in the stores that decide to take this action.”
In Ireland, which has witnessed panic buying on a scale similar to the UK’s, Lidl said it will introduce prioritised queuing and assistance from 9 AM to 11 AM each day for older customers.
However, concerns remain around how people self-isolating in the long-term will access food supplies. While existing online delivery operations could help, the likes of Ocado are already overrun with its website placing visitors in a virtual queue which at times is hours long.
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “We are in regular contact with the food industry to ensure it is well-prepared to deal with a range of scenarios. Retailers are continuing to monitor their supply chains and taking all the necessary steps to ensure consumers have the food and supplies they need.”
NAM Implications:
- Key issue for suppliers is the extent to which these emergency ‘temporary’ cutbacks in services…
- …will become permanent and shops revert to being highly efficient retailers…
- …with their growth coming via online…
