Supermarket delivery slots selling out as shoppers start coronavirus stockpiling

ONLINE grocery shopping has surged as worried customers try to stock their cupboards as coronavirus fears grip the nation.

Ocado customers have been warned that the grocery business’s home delivery service is facing “exceptionally high demand” and lots of people are placing “particularly large orders”.

They are being told to allow three days for their food to arrive.

Sainsbury’s delivery times are also being put under pressure.

While the supermarket says if you order by 12 noon you can have your shopping delivered by 5pm, when The Sun checked on Tuesday morning the first delivery slots were on Thursday afternoon - a delay of 48 hours.

This suggests more people than usual are using the service.

Other supermarkets have said that while they are not having any problems fulfilling online delivery orders, customers are buying more.

A spokesperson for Asda said that the supermarket had noticed an increase in the number of people getting food delivered to their homes and that customers’ online baskets were larger than usual as people stocked up.

As a result, spending was also generally higher, he added.

He said a similar effect had been observed when it looked as if the UK could leave the European Union without a deal last March.

People tend to stock up on so-called cupboard essentials such as pasta, rice and tinned goods in uncertain times.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Iceland said: “Sales of frozen food have seen notable increases and we have noticed a trend towards customers selecting multibuy deals and larger packs.”

Meanwhile, there are reports that supermarket shelves have been stripped by panicked shoppers who fear a coronavirus outbreak in the UK.

Brits have started to stockpile household items like toilet roll, pet food, hand sanitiser, pasta, rice, nappies - and booze.

But the official advice is that you only need to have enough food to last a fortnight - which most people will have at home already.

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