Tag: supermarkets

HALF of Scots felt that their trips to the supermarket were vital to combating isolation during lockdown

From our bellies, to our minds, to our hearts: The role of the UK’s supermarkets through COVID-19

Scotland’s new ‘five-tier’ lockdown system comes into effect tomorrow, with each of the country’s 32 local authorities falling into Levels 0 to 4, depending on coronavirus infection rates.

In light of the increase in localised lockdowns due to surging Coronavirus cases, the role of grocers and supermarkets has now become more clear than ever. Not only have they been integral in providing us all with basic living necessities, they have also played a hugely important role when it comes to our mental health. 

The national lockdown in March saw millions of people confined to their homes, fearful of any contact with other people. However, these fears also came with elements of cabin fever as people yearned to once again feel a sense of normal.

For many, the only time this could be achieved was through their weekly shop; a time they were able to (safely) socialise, and gain a glimpse of normality amid the unforeseen circumstances brought about by the pandemic.

In light of this, technology pioneers Ubamarket found that 50% of Scots believed their weekly shop to the supermarket was vital to combating the isolation they were feeling during lockdown. As we experience a tightening of restrictions once again, the centrality of supermarkets in society has now become overwhelmingly clear, with many once again finding solace in their supermarket. 

Now, it is more important than ever that supermarkets and the retail sector alike are able to adapt to the post-Coronavirus climate.

According to many industry commentators, retail technology holds the key to helping supermarkets and retailers transition into the new future of retail as designed by Coronavirus. The implementation of end-to-end tech solutions which help supermarkets to streamline and modernise the shopping experience in keeping with the changing retail landscape. 

Will Broome, CEO and Founder of Ubamarket, discusses the integral role of supermarkets amid the Coronavirus crisis, and how technology can transform the current in-store offering to ensure long-term success and customer satisfaction:

“Localised lockdowns have highlighted exactly how important local shops and supermarkets are to consumers across the country. An essential presence, our nation’s shop keepers are constantly at the front line, providing everyone with their basic necessities.

“Their presence is absolutely paramount in our efforts to combat the difficulties brought about by the virus, and with half of Scots combating isolation and finding much-needed relief when doing their weekly shop, the centrality of supermarkets has never been clearer.  

“Now, in order to sustain this, the world of retail needs to evolve and adapt to the new Coronavirus climate, moving away from the existing problems the sector has. The constantly changing store layouts, the outdated queues and checkouts, and the lack of communication between supermarkets and their customers are just some of the issues that COVID-19 has made very clear. 

Retail tech offers an all-encompassing solution; in Ubamarket’s case in the form of a simple app; which can put consumers in control, doing away with the need for time-consuming queues, unhygienic checkouts, and confusion about where products are and whether they are in stock.

“In a tech-supported store, customers can simply check ahead of time which products are in stock, be guided to their exact location with an aisle sat-nav, and then simply scan and pay in-app, rather than having to waste time and risk potentially dangerous exposure in queues or tills.

“I for one am extremely interested to see how the retail landscape in the UK will emerge from the Coronavirus crisis, but if one thing is certain, it is the capability of retail technology to help us build the future of retail that we would like to see.”

Morrisons offers Teachers and School Staff 10% off all groceries

From this Monday (Nov 2nd), all teachers and school staff will be able to claim a 10% discount* on their shopping in Morrisons stores nationwide.

Lasting until after Christmas, the special discount is a thank you to half a million teachers** and additional school staff who are looking after the nation’s children and supporting them through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Primary, secondary, private and special educational school teachers can all claim the discount, as well as all teaching assistants, catering staff, dinner ladies, caretakers, cleaners and school office staff.

These groups will also be able to participate in a dedicated shopping hour alongside NHS workers from 6am-7am (Mon-Sat) before stores open to other customers.***

Morrisons also offers a 10% discount for NHS staff which was introduced in April.

From this Monday, all teachers and school staff will be able to claim a 10% discount on their shopping in Morrisons stores nationwide. Lasting until after Christmas, the special discount is a thank you to the half a million teachers and additional school staff who are looking after the nation’s children and supporting them through the COVID-19 pandemic.

David Potts, Morrisons Chief Executive said: “Teachers and school staff are facing many challenges and the education of our children has never been more important. This discount is our way of saying thank you as they continue to care for and educate our kids.”

Teachers and school staff can claim the 10% discount on their groceries by presenting their school photo ID card at the till in any of Morrisons 498 stores from Monday 2 November.

*The 10% discount cannot be used with a purchase of alcohol, drugs, pharmaceutical products, infant milk or formula, tobacco and is not available online.

Full terms and conditions here https://my.morrisons.com/teachers

**https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england

*** The special hour of shopping also applies in most stores on a Sunday from 9am

Scottish Autism: making supermarkets accessible

Thank you to everyone who sent us suggestions on how to improve the supermarket shopping experience for autistic customers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With new queuing rules and social distancing in place as a result of the pandemic, our experience of supermarket shopping has changed significantly.

As part of our My Five campaign, we aim to help retail and hospitality businesses become more welcoming and accessible to autistic people and their families. We have collated the five most commonly suggested themes on adjustments supermarkets can make and developed guidance for them below. We are sharing this directly with supermarkets too.

With lockdown restrictions beginning to ease you may be visiting more than supermarkets in the coming weeks and months.

Learn how you could make these visits a more positive experience and join Gavin Neate, Founder and CEO of the WelcoMe app, for a live webinar and Q&A session today at 12 noon on our Facebook page.

The WelcoMe app aims to support autistic and disabled people to have a positive experience when visiting shops and others venues. #MyFive #Autism #COVID19

#Supermarkets4Change: youth campaign on supermarket access

Youth-led campaign aims to raise awareness of young carers to supermarkets during lockdown

Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament have started a campaign on the issue of supermarket access for young carers and young adult carers during this Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

This campaign has been set up by Ilse Cuthbertson MSYP, Carers Trust Scotland and Aaran McDonald MSYP, Cunninghame South.

During lockdown, a significant and recurring issue raised by young carers is that some are still not getting access to supermarkets during protected hours set aside for vulnerable groups.

Young carers are facing age discrimination and refusal to access if they are accompanied by family members. 

One young person got in touch with their MSYP, and said: “After waiting in the long queue, a member of staff said they were only allowing 2 people into the store per family. After explaining I am a young carer, the staff member still couldn’t understand why there needed to be two carers. 

“I had to further explain my caring responsibilities for my brother and mum before the member of staff finally allowed us in. This was an emotional and frustrating situation and no young carer should need to go through this.”

There is also inconsistency of messaging by supermarkets across the UK, and even from store to store.  Furthermore, a number of carers are struggling to get access to online shopping or difficulty meeting the minimum expenditure for online shopping. This issue also intertwines with carer identification.

#Supermarkets4Change aims to raise awareness of unpaid carers with local supermarkets and to include these young people in the protected hours set aside for vulnerable groups.

MSYPs have written to local supermarket stores on behalf of their constituents, raising awareness of who young carers are, and why it is important to include these young people in dedicated shopping times.

Ilse Cuthbertson, MSYP and Aaran McDonald, MSYP said: “We wanted to start #Supermarkets4Change as young carers and young adult carers have been approaching us due to the lack of understanding within supermarkets.

“We have learnt that this is not just an issue locally but nationally. This is an extremely important issue right now. We hope that supermarkets will start to understand the role that a young carer or young adult carer has.”

This campaign also aims to empower young people to take action. MSYPs have created a template letter and are sharing this with as many young people as possible.

If a young person is aware of this issue in their local community, they can use this template to write to the local store manager. Young people are encouraged to share this on social media using the hashtag #Supermarkets4Change so we can raise greater awareness!

Young people can also get in touch with Ilse and Aaran for support on this:

Keep up to date with the campaign on social media: @ReleaseCap/ @CarersTrustScot/ @ilsecmsyp / @MSYPAaran/ #Supermarkets4Change

Aldi provides face masks for all store colleagues

Aldi will be providing the option of face masks to all its store-based colleagues to further support their safety as they continue to feed the nation.

This move is in addition to the previously announced provision of gloves and clear screens that are being installed at more than 7,000 checkouts. Colleagues can also now access the Government’s Covid-19 testing programme for critical workers.

Support for vulnerable and self-isolating customers

Aldi has also introduced a voucher scheme to make it easier for volunteers to buy food on behalf of the vulnerable and those self-isolating. The vouchers are available to buy on a new Aldi voucher website vouchers.aldi.co.uk.

Once purchased, the vouchers can be posted to any address in the UK so they can be given to volunteers, friends or family members to shop on behalf of vulnerable people.

Vouchers are available in denominations of £5.00 and £10.00 with no additional costs to customers for postage.

Additional support for British producers

Aldi has agreed to buy additional volumes of British beef to support farmers faced with surplus product due to closures of restaurants and catering businesses.

It is selling 21-day matured British rump steak (£8.99, 900g) as a Specialbuy across its 877 UK stores.

Aldi is the UK’s fastest-growing fresh meat retailer and has reaffirmed its commitment to support the beef farming sector by spot buying additional volume where possible. The current Specialbuy alone consists of over 130,000 British rump steaks.

It is also helping horticultural suppliers by increasing orders of Spring plants that would otherwise be disposed of because of the closure of their normal routes to market.

Aldi has agreed to sell over 200,000 Spring Perennials from its long-term partner Lovania Nurseries, who have worked with Aldi for over 20 years.

Lovania have also benefitted from Aldi’s small supplier payment scheme, which was recently extended to guarantee immediate payments for all suppliers with a turnover of less than £1m. This is benefitting over 3,000 Aldi suppliers during this difficult period.

Morrison’s Doorstep Deliveries

Morrison’s are helping our vulnerable customers get food delivered.

Orders can be placed before 4pm with an aim to get delivery the next day between 2-5pm.

There is currently a limit on how many orders can be placed with each store.

You must live within 10 miles of a Morrison’s to use this service.

Payment by card only.

You place your order from the list below, with a limit of 3 per item.

Products will be generic and based on store availability.

Everything will be fully explained when you phone to make an order.

Special dietary requirements will also be met.

Please – if you are able to go to the shops don’t use this service, it is for vulnerable/elderly/isolating members of our community.

An update from Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Mike Coupe

I wrote to you last week to update you on how we are supporting elderly and vulnerable customers with access to groceries online. I wanted to share some progress we have made on this over the past few days.

When I wrote last, we had offered 450,000 elderly and vulnerable customers priority booking to online delivery. At the end of last week we received the government database, which includes details of all the people in England who have registered with the government to say that they are vulnerable and need help getting a food shop.

Since then we have been able to match almost 150,000 additional customers against our database. We have already contacted almost 30,000 of those and so we are now contacting almost 120,000 additional customers to offer them a priority delivery slot.

We are waiting for the databases for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and will contact vulnerable customers in those areas as soon as we are able.

We know many elderly and vulnerable people who need to self-isolate are relying on the kindness of family, friends and local communities to shop on their behalf and we encourage this.

You wrote to tell me that product limits were a barrier to being able to shop for other people. We understand that it can be difficult to buy what you need and shop for someone else with the 3 item product limit.

We have now lifted buying restrictions on thousands of products and hope that this will help more of you to shop for others. I also want to reassure you that stock levels are now much better right across the store.

We are keeping limits on the most popular items for now, including pasta, UHT milk, antibacterial products and some tinned and frozen foods. But you can now feel confident in shopping in our stores at any time of day and being able to find most of what you need.

To help people shop for others easily, we will be introducing a new volunteer gift card and online voucher in the next week or two. I will share more information on this soon.

Many of you have also written to me to tell me about food banks and community groups near you that are struggling in this crisis. We know from our ongoing support of food banks that this is a particularly tough time for them right across the country.

To help with this, we have donated £3 million to Fareshare, who will use that money to distribute donated food to the people who need it the most.

We are also partnering with Comic Relief and the BBC on The Big Night In which aims to raise money for people impacted by COVID 19. We’ll be sharing more information on this in stores and online.

Best wishes

Mike

Vulnerable people struggle to get essentials

Three-quarters of the population have experienced shortages of products when shopping in recent weeks, with vulnerable consumers among those struggling to get hold of essentials, new research from Which? has found.

In a survey of more than 2,000 members of the public on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak carried out between 20th-24th March, three-quarters (76%) reported experiencing shortages of products in supermarkets, shops or online.

A third (34%) said they could not find hand sanitisers while around a quarter could not find toilet rolls (27%) and rice and pasta (25%).

The coronavirus outbreak has also impacted shopping habits, with around a third (32%) saying they have shopped at independent and convenience stores more than usual.

While supermarkets have maintained there is plenty of food available to feed the nation, many stores have struggled to keep their shelves stocked around the clock to meet the sudden increase in demand, while online shopping delivery slots are booked up weeks in advance.

Major retailers have been seeking to address these issues by hiring thousands of extra staff, limiting purchases of some items and prioritising NHS workers and vulnerable customers at certain times, while the government has relaxed competition laws to allow supermarkets to work together on maintaining supplies of essential goods.

The government has also made plans to deliver weekly food parcels to more than a million people who have been identified as medically vulnerable.

Worryingly, in another survey of Which? members carried out in the same time period, thousands said they had experienced food shortages, including reports from some vulnerable customers who said they had struggled to get the products they needed.

One Which? member said they were struggling to get fresh food such as bread, vegetables and milk, particularly as they had been advised to stay indoors due to their age and had been unable to secure an online delivery slot.

Another member from rural Scotland said their local supermarkets, which are nine miles away, were filled with empty shelves. As these stores were relatively small, they had not yet introduced special opening times for older or vulnerable customers but were closing earlier.

Which? found that product shortages were experienced relatively evenly across all regions of the country, suggesting the issue was widespread.

The measures introduced by the supermarkets and the government appear to be having some impact and a number of supermarkets have recently been able to relax some of the restrictions that they put in place. The situation around the country continues to change regularly.

However, more must still be done to ensure effective coordination and clear communication across the country so that people are clear on the best way to access the food they need. This includes people the government has identified as vulnerable as part of its coronavirus guidance, as well as those who may be vulnerable because of their wider circumstances.

The government must also work with the food industry to develop an effective contingency plan to avoid any future disruption to supply chains, as well as addressing these issues of availability and distribution.

Sue Davies, Head of Consumer Protection and Food Policy at Which?, said: “Millions of people have been experiencing product shortages in supermarkets, with all parts of the country affected. While many can adapt their shopping habits, it is particularly concerning that we are hearing from vulnerable consumers who are struggling to get hold of essentials.

“Supermarkets must continue to work with the government to explore innovative solutions that ensure people have access to essential food supplies in the challenging weeks and months ahead.

“With coronavirus restrictions expected to last months, the government must ensure that there is more effective coordination of food supplies and clearer communication. All consumers, but particularly people who are vulnerable, need to have a much clearer route to access the right help and food supplies for their needs.”

Update from Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Mike Coupe

I wanted to write to you again to update you on the steps we are taking to make sure everyone has access to food and essential items. I’m also sharing more information about how we are supporting our colleagues in these challenging times and how you can help.

An increasing number of you have told me that you’re not always able to get the items that you need when you need them. We are working with our suppliers to get even more stock of essential items and we are adding warehouse capacity on a daily basis.

You will have seen that we put restrictions in place this week to ensure that more products are on shelf for longer.

From Monday 23rd March, we are consolidating our opening hours and all our supermarkets will be open from 8am to 8pm, Monday-Saturday, including those with an Argos store. Sunday opening, Sainsbury’s Local and petrol station opening times will stay the same.

This means we can focus our store colleagues’ time on keeping shelves stocked and serving our customers well during the times that most of you are already shopping.

Last Thursday, we set aside an hour for elderly and vulnerable shoppers in our supermarkets. Many of you have told me how much you appreciated this and that you would like this to become a regular event. Some of you also said we should extend this to members of our hardworking NHS and Social Care workers. And we will be doing just that.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all our supermarkets will dedicate 8am – 9am to serving elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers, as well as NHS and Social Care workers.

They will just need to show us their pass or ID when they visit. Some of you fed back that you couldn’t find what you wanted during that hour, so we will try our best to have essential items on shelf for these customers.

We will be working to keep our shelves well stocked and would encourage customers to arrive throughout the hour to prevent queues forming and to help everyone keep a safe distance.

Hundreds of you have written to me to thank our amazing colleagues who are working around the clock to serve our customers. A number of you have also shared your concerns for the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues.

I want you to know that we are doing all we can to support everyone who works in our business.

We have committed to paying all colleagues who are unwell or need to self-isolate for the full period of fourteen days. We have also committed to paying vulnerable and elderly colleagues in full if the government decides they should isolate for 12 weeks.

We hope this will go some way to helping our teams through this uncertain time and we are looking at other ways to thank our colleagues for their extraordinary efforts.

To keep our colleagues safe, I need to ask again for your help. Please do your best to stand one metre away from colleagues in our stores where you can. And we would prefer you to pay with card rather than cash at our tills.

Please also treat our colleagues and other customers with kindness and respect. These are unprecedented circumstances and our colleagues are being asked to come to work every day while so many others are being asked to stay at home.

We all need them to keep coming to work to feed the nation – a small thank you goes a really long way.

I hope you will join us in looking out for each other and the communities that we serve.

Best wishes

Mike

Consumers asked to shop considerately

As increasing numbers of supermarkets and shops try to deal with the challenge of replenishing shelves in time to meet demand, the Scottish Government has asked consumers to shop considerately – in particular to ensure those in the frontline of dealing with COVID-19 are able to get the supplies they need.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “Ensuring that we all have access to food and other essentials is key to our safety and wellbeing in these unprecedented times.

“I want to thank everyone working to produce food, distribute it and sell it in shops and supermarkets for all their efforts to keep products on the shelves.

“For the past week I have been in close contact with Scotland’s national retailers, who confirmed that they have sufficient stocks to provide enough food and other essentials for everyone.

“The issue is that, currently, demand is so high that products cannot be replenished on shelves in time, which is creating a perception of food shortages. This is a false picture though, and pressure on the supply could be greatly eased if shoppers buy just what they need rather than stockpiling. So I am calling on consumers to please shop considerately.

“In particular I would ask people to think about the needs and interests of our frontline and key workers who cannot get to the shops as often as the rest of us and who are shopping at unsocial hours.

“Please also consider helping those who can’t get to the shops themselves, especially elderly and vulnerable neighbours, family and friends who are being asked to restrict their social contact.  And consider supporting local businesses and smaller retailers in the community by giving them your custom as well.

“I also want to assure consumers that the Scottish Government is continually working with the food and drink industry and liaising closely with local government and other governments across the UK to ensure that fresh food and supplies remain available across all of Scotland.

We have already acted to enable local authorities to relax restrictions on delivery hours, delivery driver work patterns, and shop opening times to help supermarkets and shops remain stocked and allow shoppers more opportunity to access supplies out of normal business hours. We remain committed to doing all we can to keep the shelves stocked – the public has a pivotal role to play in helping us do that.”