How to get supermarket delivery slots & where to buy essential items like loo roll & food during coronavirus lockdown
SHOPPERS have been told to leave homes just once a day and to avoid supermarkets if possible, so we round-up where you can shop online.
It comes as the Prime Minister said on Monday that Brits will only be able to go to supermarkets, pharmacists, pet shops, hardware stores, and newsagents in an unprecedented high street shutdown as coronavirus takes hold.
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But with supermarket home delivery slots selling out weeks ago for many, we look at whether they're doing anything more to help shoppers.
And we explore whether there are alternative places you can shop for essentials.
Of course, if you buy online, check minimum spends and delivery fees as retailers will usually set limits on how much you have to spend.
When your delivery does come, bear in mind it may be heavily substituted with similar items where what you’ve ordered has since gone out of stock.
Most supermarkets are also rationing what you can buy.
And ensure you let your supermarket know if you’re self isolating when you order so it can take extra precautions.
If you are able to head out, it’s also worth checking your local Aldi and Lidl, convenience stores, as well as smaller and independent corner shops.
Abel and Cole
Abel and Cole delivers organic food boxes, as well as household cleaning products to your door.
If you've got it, it might be worth using it but it's allowing any new customers to sign up right now.
Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry
Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry are add-on services for Prime members.
Prime costs £7.99 a month or £79 a year, although you can sign up for a .
Once you've got Prime, you can order household essentials from Amazon Pantry for a flat fee of £3.99, although you need to order at least £15-worth.
It doesn't currently have any toilet roll or pasta in stock, but cleaning products are available.
Amazon Fresh, meanwhile, costs £3.99 a month or £2.99 per order, as long as you order at least £40.
Fresh is a tie-up with retailers including Boots and Morrisons, which means you can buy their own-brand goods.
When we checked Fresh, we found pasta, toilet roll and soap in stock but it may be this changes once you've logged into your account.
Amazon also warns that certain stock, as well as delivery, may be temporarily unavailable due to an increase in demand.
Asda
When we checked a London address on Asda, home delivery was available to book up till April 7, but all slots were sold out.
On click and collect, slots went as far as March 31 but again they were all fully booked.
There was also no toilet roll or hand sanitiser in stock and just a handful of pasta and soaps.
It's worth checking though, as availability will vary depending on where you live.
We've asked Asda if priority is being given to Delivery Pass holders, whether Delivery Passes can still be purchased, and whether there's a best time to nab a delivery slot.
The Sun has also asked if the number of delivery slots available has been increased.
Boots
Toilet roll and a lot of hand washes are currently out of stock on Boots but it says stock is coming soon so it's worth checking back later.
Delivery is now taking seven days due to high demand.
Where to buy clothes from?
YOU can still shop online at the following clothing retailers, even though some of them have closed physical stores:
- Asos
- Boohoo
- H&M
- Matalan
- New Look
- Pretty Little Thing
- Topshop
Co-op
You can order online for home delivery from Co-op if you live in certain areas of Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, London, Manchester, and Southampton.
There's no pasta, handwash or toilet roll in stock but you can get certain cleaning products.
But Co-op warns that some delivery slots are booked up at the moment, and where slots are available, you will only be able to order a maximum of 20 items.
An alternative, is to order Co-op items from Deliveroo.
The takeaway service says there are now nearly 400 Co-op stores on Deliveroo across the UK, meaning families at home can access household items seven days a week in under 30 minutes.
The process is the same as if you were ordering from a restaurant on the Deliveroo app.
Delivery fees vary depending on each order, although it might be that items cost more than buying direct.
Deliveroo
Deliveroo is rolling-out an "Essentials by Deliveroo" range of convenience items to some areas of the country.
This will include cereal, pasta, rice, sweets and biscuits, soft drinks and juices, tinned and canned goods.
It went live in Cambridge last week and will be rolled-out across Brighton, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Reading over the next two weeks.
Deliveroo purchases the goods through a distributor and aims to get them to you within 30minutes - the delivery fee depends on the order.
This will appear as an option under the "Groceries" section of Deliveroo, if it's available to you.
The groceries section also sees it already tie-up with local convenience stores.
We found break, milk and vegetables available on this - although no toilet roll and pasta.
Gousto
Gousto is a recipe box platform where four recipes and boxes of food for two people costs £34.99, for example.
handwash and toilet roll available
Where to buy toiletries from?
HERE'S where you might be able to get your hands on toilet roll, handwash, cleaning products and pasta from:
- Asda: Handful of pasta, cleaning products, and soaps available online, so worth checking in store too.
- Co-op: Certain cleaning products available online so worth checking in store too.
- Poundland: Toilet roll, cleaning products, and handwash should be available in stores, although you can't buy online.
- Sainsbury's: Pasta, toilet roll, cleaning products, and handwash in stock online so worth checking in store too.
- Superdrug: Toilet roll and handwash available in certain stores - you can check online before making a trip.
- Tesco: Pasta, toilet roll, some cleaning products, and handwash in stock online so worth checking in store too.
- We deliver local/Beelivery: Handwash, cleaning products, and toilet roll available.
Again, it's not taking orders from new customers due to "extremely high demand" but it's worth giving it a go if you've already got an account.
Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh is a meal planning site with prices varying depending on the number of people and the number of meals.
You can choose dishes for up to four people for five meals a week.
Boxes can be delivered straight to your front door or to a safe location chosen by you.
It's not accepting new orders at present, but again it could be worth a try if you already have an account.
Home Bargains
Home Bargains is selling recipe boxes serving two or four people for just £5.
Each box contains one recipe as well as the relevant meat, fish and veg needed to create the dish, plus a reusable bag for life.
But the boxes are only available in the chain's larger stores across the UK, so you'll only be able to pick one up if you're not self-isolating.
It has more than 400 stores across the UK and you can find its .
We couldn't find any pasta, toilet roll or handwash being sold online but you might have more luck in store.
Iceland
Iceland has limited its online delivery slots to older and vulnerable people.
Anyone visiting Iceland’s website is met with a message asking them if they are eligible for the service.
For those who aren’t over state pension age and who are able to get to the shops, Iceland says they should not be using home delivery.
In a statement Iceland said: “We're working hard to add as many delivery slots as possible, however demand is currently very high.
“Please note that due to continued high demand in our stores, customers may still be missing items in their online orders.
“We'll be in contact to let you know when online deliveries are back to normal.”
When we checked online, there was no handwash, toilet roll or pasta available but this will likely vary depending on where you are in the country.
Morrisons
Morrisons has launched such as loo roll, pasta and bread.
But the boxes sold out in less than an hour, and is currently down.
We've asked Morrisons if priority is being given to Delivery Pass holders, whether Delivery Passes can still be purchased, and whether there's a best time to nab a delivery slot.
The Sun has also asked if the number of delivery slots available has been increased.
As the site is down, we can't check what current stock levels are looking like.
M&S
M&S has temporarily suspended its "food to order" service.
But a range of M&S Food is be available for the first time on the Deliveroo app.
A selected range of approximately 60 M&S products will be available to order on Deliveroo and delivered straight to people’s homes within 30 minutes.
It includes items such as milk, bread and juices, and simple meal options including pizzas and ready-prepared meals
These will be available from 120 M&S franchise stores at BP service stations across the UK and delivery of these and all products from BP stores will be completely free of charge.
We couldn't check stock levels as our location isn't one M&S will deliver to.
Ocado
Online retailer Ocado isn't accepting order from new customers.
Anyone attempting to book is put into a virtual queue, which currently has about 25,000 people in it and takes two hours to clear.
But when you get to the front of the queue there are no slots available.
Poundland
Poundland's website lists that it has toilet roll and handwash available in stores, although you can't buy online.
How to get an online delivery slot
MANY retailers have sold out of online delivery and click and collect slots.
But it's worth continuing to check regularly as some say they are trying to increase capacity.
We've asked supermarkets when the best time to check sites is but in the past, shoppers have waited till midnight for new slots to be released.
At this time of night, websites are also likely to be quieter which means there's less chance of them crashing due to high demand.
If you're vulnerable, disabled or elderly you should also let Iceland and Sainsbury's know as these supermarkets are giving online priority to these shoppers.
You can contact Sainsbury's on 0800 328 1700 if it hasn't already contacted you to tell you you fall in this category, while with Iceland you simply need to select that option when you visit its website.
Give your local store a call and see if it can put some aside for you to collect. Use its to find your nearest.
Poundshop
Poundshop is out of toilet roll, pasta and handwash online but it's worth giving your local store a call and see if it can put some aside for you to collect.
Use Google to find your nearest.
Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's shoppers can only get home delivery at present if they're an elderly or vulnerable customer or they already have a delivery pass.
You should have had an email to confirm you're in this group.
This is based on your date of birth and if you have ever used the supermarket's vulnerable customer helpline.
Delivery passes aren't available to new shoppers while existing holders still have to give priority to the vulnerable and elderly.
If you’re elderly, disabled or vulnerable and think you should be on Sainsbury's vulnerable customer list, please get in touch on 0800 328 1700.
New customers also can't currently get home delivery.
Anyone can still click and collect in store, and Sainsbury's has expanded its services to more locations.
When we checked it also had pasta, toilet roll and handwash in stock.
But when The Sun checked there was no click and collect availability at a London store we tried.
So you might have better luck where you are or by visiting a store in person if you can.
The Sun has also asked if the number of delivery slots available has been increased.
Superdrug
Superdrug has toilet roll and handwash listed on its site but only when you enter your postcode will it tell you if it's available or not.
It told us there was toilet roll stock in several local stores although we were unable to buy online or click and collect.
There didn't seem to be any handwash available.
Tesco
Anyone can currently order home delivery and click and collect at Tesco but when we checked dates up to April 13, there was no availability.
That said, this is based on where you live so elsewhere around the UK you may have more luck.
We've asked Tesco if priority is being given to Delivery Pass holders, and whether there's a best time to nab a delivery slot.
But it says Delivery Passes are no longer available to new customers, and that refunds will be offered to existing customers where they've been unable to book deliveries.
The Sun has also asked if the number of delivery slots available has been increased.
When we checked online, Tesco had pasta, toilet roll and handwash in stock so it's stores may also be worth a visit if you can get down to one.
We Deliver Local/ Beelivery
We Deliver Local and Beelivery order items from your local convenience store, collect them, and deliver them to your home within 90 minutes.
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This includes everything from snacks, drinks, crisps, and alcohol to household cleaning products.
When The Sun checked, we found handwash and toilet roll available, but no pasta.
You need to place a minimum order of £12 and delivery within 90-minutes costs £3.95.
It's more expensive than other retailers but you're paying for the convenience, plus it appears to have more sought after items in stock when we checked a London address.
Wilko
Wilko says it has toilet roll in store, so it's worth calling ahead to check and see if staff can put some by for you.
It's currently out of stock of pasta, handwash and toilet roll online - use its to find your nearest.
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