Coronavirus: Tesco tells shoppers to visit stores because there ‘isn’t enough capacity’ for delivery

Most shoppers must visit stores to buy food because “there is simply not enough capacity” to deliver to most people, Tesco has said.

The supermarket giant estimated “between 85 per cent and 90 per cent of all food bought will require a visit to a store,” despite government advice that the public should have groceries delivered where possible.

As he ordered Britons to stay in their homes for at least three weeks, Boris Johnson said in last month’s televised address: “You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine — and you should do this as little as you can. And use food delivery services where you can.”

Tesco said it had increased the capacity of its grocery home-shopping service by 20 per cent – an additional 145,000 slots – during the coronavirus outbreak but “there is simply not enough capacity to supply the whole market”.

The retailer added it was trying to prioritise deliveries to the most vulnerable people.It has also implemented safety measures in its stores, including social distancing rules and one-way aisles.

The boss of rival supermarket company Iceland has previously urged healthy shoppers to ignore the prime minister’s advice and buy food in stores to free up delivery “for those who need it most”.

Sainsbury’s is reserving all of its delivery slots for shoppers who are elderly or have existing health problems, while Asda has written to vulnerable customers to offer them priority access to online shopping.

Many retailers have implemented limits on purchases in response to widespread panic-buying which saw supermarket shelves emptied and delivery slots booked up for weeks.

Tesco acknowledged that “significant panic buying cleared the supply chain of certain items” in the first few weeks of the crisis, with sales soaring 30 per cent. But it added: “This has now stabilised across the group and more normal sales volumes are being experienced.”

The supermarket chain said it had seen “significant absence” of staff as Covid-19 spreads around the UK and had recruited 45,000 additional employees in the last fortnight.

Dave Lewis, chief executive of Tesco, said: “Covid-19 has shown how critical the food supply chain is to the UK and I’m very proud of the way Tesco, as indeed the whole UK food industry, has stepped forward.

“In this time of crisis we have focused on four things; food for all, safety for everyone, supporting our colleagues and supporting our communities.

“Initial panic buying has subsided and service levels are returning to normal. There are significant extra costs in feeding the nation at the moment but these are partially offset by the UK business rates relief.”

The retailer's statement was issued alongside its preliminary results for 2019/20, which showed revenue up 1.3 per cent to £64.8bn from last year but operating profits down 4.9 per cent to £2.52bn.

The company told investors it expected coronavirus to cost its retail business between £650m and £925m next year due to increased payroll, distribution and store expenses.

But it said this would be “largely offset” by higher food sales, 12 months’ business rates relief, and “prudent operations management”.