Tesco Delivery Slots For Elderly
Tesco have said they hope to add more delivery slots soon. (Picture: Getty Images) Coronavirus has seen global disruption on an unprecedented scale, including travel bans, job losses and panic. New delivery slots are released each day, so customers are being advised to keep checking for available slots. Sainsbury's has explained that it can take up to two days from registering for online delivery to be able to book a slot. It has been made clear that customers have access to a maximum of one delivery slot per week. They have increased the number of home delivery and click and collect slots available and have now nearly doubled this service to over 650,000 orders per week. On their website, Sainsbury's say they are doing their best to offer online delivery slots to elderly and vulnerable customers and these customers have priority over all slots. For stores such as Tesco that are still allowing new customers to register, all their available delivery slots, which run until April, have already been booked. Tesco says that due to the upturn in demand, delivery slot availability has been decreased but that the company is doing its best to respond to demand. The website doesn’t allow bulk buying.
Tesco has announced a new initiative which will offer free grocery deliveries for people aged over-65 when they shop online.
The service was launched today to coincide with International Day of Older Persons.
Tesco is the first retailer to implement such an initiative, with deliveries set to operate across the country six days a week from 3pm-7pm Monday-Saturday subject to a minimum spend of €50.
The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD welcomed the project, saying it was 'a good example of combining technology with social good'.
'It is positive to see an age-friendly initiative that aims to assist older people across the country,' she said.
'This Tesco initiative will be great for older people, especially in rural areas. It also means that not having to spend time shopping gives people more time to spend in their communities.”
Ruairi Twomey, Marketing Director, Tesco Ireland said, “At Tesco, we believe that even the little things make all the difference so this new extension of our home delivery service helps older members of our community avail of free delivery of their weekly shopping.
This will be highly beneficial especially as we enter the colder months. This way we can be sure older members of our community get the very best food in the manner most convenient to them.
The Interim CEO of Age Action Ireland, Anna McCabe, said they were 'really pleased' with the initiative, particularly at the start of Positive Ageing Week.
Tesco is the first supermarket chain in Ireland to provide this service which will have a real positive impact on the day-to-day lives of older people and offer much-needed convenience, especially for those with limited transport options or reduced mobility,' she said.
'It brings a welcome saving of time and money for older people as well as facilitating increased autonomy which is so important for all of us.”
Customers need to register for free deliveries by calling Freephone 1800 248 123. The customer service team will be available on the same number to help process online orders over the phone, and this line is available from Monday-Friday 9am-5.30pm.
Customers will be required to verify their age upon receipt of their first delivery, and bus passes, a driver’s licence or a passport are acceptable forms of identification.
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The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, has increased its home delivery and click & collect capacity to circa 780,000 a week, supported by more manpower and the operational changes it has made in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis.
This figure stood at 660,000 two weeks ago, and Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said the grocer has plans to increase online order capacity by another 100,000 in the coming weeks.
Lewis also revealed stores with an online grocery operation will now open their doors a little later – from 8am – to help Tesco pick more orders.
“The government has asked our industry to help people that they have identified as particularly vulnerable and who don’t have their own support network,” Lewis explained.
Tesco Delivery Slots For Elderly People
“We will prioritise orders for these people and we will be in touch with them by email, as we receive the list from the government.”
Tesco’s policy around prioritising online delivery for the vulnerable and elderly, matches that of Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, and other supermarket chains – which are rising to the challenge of serving the nation in unique circumstances.
There have, of course, been several challenges – with the hike in demand causing logjams and long lead times online for many customers. In normal times, online represents around 10% of UK grocery sales, but the pandemic has created unprecedented pressure on its infrastructure.
“We want to help as many people as possible who truly need our delivery service, and so we have deliberately not restricted new online customers,” Lewis added.
“We hope our existing online customers understand our approach, in these challenging circumstances. But to make it work, we also need your support: please ‘think before you click’ and shop in store, if you can do so safely.”
Lewis also revealed that in the last ten days, more than 35,000 new members of staff had joined Tesco, including pickers and drivers to support online. He called the response to new roles “incredible”, with one million people visiting the retailer’s careers website.
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Industry intelligence group, Kantar, said yesterday (31 March) that UK grocery sales reached £10.8 billion in the 12 weeks to 22 March, which was higher than even Christmas spending levels.
Kantar said grocery spend online was 13% up on the same period in 2019, and the average online basket size surged to £81.88 in March – over £6 more than the same month one year before.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail & consumer insight at the Kantar Worldpanel UK, said year-on-year sales for the 12 weeks were up by 7.6% – but they were up by 20.6% in the most recent four-week period, making March the biggest month of grocery sales ever recorded.
Commenting on grocery eCommerce, he added: “Government advice may have been to get groceries delivered if possible, but limited delivery slots meant that only 14.6% of households received an online delivery in the past four weeks, up from 13.8% in March 2019 but probably well below actual demand.”