Online food delivery services have been struggling for weeks to meet increased demand. The government's latest advice to stay at home to reduce the spread of the coronavirus has led to a huge spike in people looking to buy food online, and for many, booking an online grocery delivery slot has been tough.
The good news is we're starting to see signs of progress. Yesterday, Tesco announced that it has expanded its food delivery and click-and-collect capacity to around 780,000 delivery slots - that's up from 660,000 two weeks ago. Tesco has also announced plans to add another 100,000 slots in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, if you can get through the queue to get onto the Morrisons website, the supermarket has increased the limit of three items per customers to four so that customers can continue to donate to food banks, and Waitrose has removed its cap on all fresh food.
Booking a food delivery slot still isn't easy - demand is still extremely high. But with many online supermarkets starting to release small numbers of slots for elderly or vulnerable customers throughout the day, chances are that if you need one - and keep trying throughout the day - you'll find a slot eventually.
Food delivery: quick links
Grocery delivery
- Amazon Fresh - grocery delivery to select cities
- Amazon Pantry - order everyday food essentials with Prime delivery
- Asda - no delivery slots available
- Co-op - restricted to 20 item limit, not available in many areas
- Iceland - prioritising elderly or vulnerable customers
- Morrisons - no new delivery slots available
- Ocado - no delivery slots available
- Sainsbury's - some slots available but not accepting new customers
- Tesco - new delivery slots throughout the day
- Waitrose - prioritising elderly or vulnerable customers
Recipe box and meal delivery
- Allplants - plant-based meal delivery, cooked by chefs
- Feast Box - £20 off your first world food recipe box
- Mindful Chef - healthy recipe boxes with fresh ingredients for you to cook
- SimplyCook - Get a £3 trial recipe box to cook at home
Pizza delivery
- Domino's - 50% off pizza when you spend £35 or more
- Pizza Hut - get two medium pizzas and a classic side for £20
- Papa John's - contact-free pizza delivery
Takeaway delivery
- Deliveroo - takeaway delivery from top restaurants
- Just Eat - takeaway delivery from local restaurants
- Uber Eats - takeaway delivery from your favourite restaurants
Alcohol delivery
- Beer Hawk - free delivery on beer orders over £50
- The Drink Shop - 20% off selected wine, beer and spirits
- Vinatis - up to 50% off select wines
How to get a food delivery slot
Most supermarkets are requesting that you visit stores in person, if you can, so they can prioritise food delivery slots for elderly or vulnerable customers. Some, such as Waitrose, have closed their websites to new customers to help them do this. Others, including Sainsbury's, have been in touch with loyalty card holders who are aged over 70.
If you're a vulnerable person - or you know someone who is - you can register for support on the government's website. Tesco is prioritising orders for people on the government's vulnerable list, and will be in touch with anyone who is by email.
Our best advice, if you need to order food online, is to keep checking the website of your local supermarket throughout the day. If you can sign up for an account, do: this will make it easier for you to find a delivery slot in future. And book your delivery slot first - once you have one, most supermarkets give you around an hour to place your order.
Finally, if you can't get hold of a grocery delivery slot, don't forget that some meal delivery services are still operating too. Recipe box services like Mindful Chef deliver fresh ingredients to your door for you to cook, while meal delivery companies such as Allplants will drop off meals that have been cooked by their chefs.
Morrisons' £35 food box delivery
Two weeks ago Morrisons launched a food box delivery service that aimed to supply customers who can't get to the shops with essential items. "A Morrisons Food Box could be a real help if you can’t currently get to a store to stock up on essentials," says the site. "We will deliver a box of selected food and household items straight to your door.
Unfortunately, Morrisons' food box delivery service doesn't currently have any available delivery slots. The company says it is "doing everything we can to increase capacity" - and we'll let you know as soon as we find any new delivery slots.
When will more online grocery delivery slots open up? That's the million dollar question. While the major supermarkets work around the clock to speed up the supply chain, we've taken a look at how they're dealing with the increased demand.
It currently looks like it'll be mid-April before many new food delivery slots are opened up. But we're assessing the situation daily, and we'll tell you which supermarkets are offering food delivery slots, below, as soon as we see them.
Please remember to use all food delivery services responsibly. Only order what you need to preserve stocks for others who might be in need.
Grocery delivery: our process
We signed up to all the major supermarkets below, and created a shopping basket full of popular goods. We then compared five different locations to provide a sense of what stock is available in each area and whether delivery slots are currently offered.
Your situation may differ, but the locations we covered were: London, Leeds, Portsmouth, Manchester and Bath. Here's the latest on which supermarkets are offering online grocery delivery today...
- Supermarkets to prioritise online orders for elderly
- Ocado suspends its online grocery delivery service due to high demand
- Best food delivery apps UK
Tesco
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 02/04/20)
Update (02/04/20): Tesco has expanded its food delivery and click-and-collect capacity to around 780,000 delivery slots. However, while we saw a couple of Tesco food delivery slots pop up a few days ago for April 3, we're now not finding any in the areas we're testing. We have heard from people who checked back regularly throughout the day and managed to book a slot though.
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has reached out to customers in a new message this week: "We know that it's difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We are at full capacity for the next few weeks and we ask those who are able to safely come to stores to do so, instead of shopping online, so that we can start to free up more slots for the more vulnerable."
Tesco has a decent selection of food items online, but getting hold of them at the moment can be tricky. Most brands are in stock, but eggs, hand soap, pasta, milk and bread are the exception, with some items sold out.
According to Tesco, new food delivery slots are offered up as and when they're available each day.
How to sign up for an account
Enter a valid email address and password, and confirm whether you have a Clubcard or not. You’ll receive one automatically upon registering if you don't. Fill in your personal details, including your phone number and UK Postcode. You can then select if you’d like to receive offers and vouchers from Tesco or not.
Benefits and perks
Online shoppers can collect Clubcard points and Tesco has begun price matching Aldi on both its own-brand and branded products. A Delivery Saver pass is also available for regular customers, and comes with the added benefit of priority delivery slots during the busy Christmas and Easter periods.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Customers who shop online are encouraged to shop in-store where possible to help free up delivery slots for the elderly customers and those who are self-isolating.
Due to increased demand, Tesco isn’t accepting any new Delivery Saver customers right now either. A restriction of only three items per customer on every product line is in place, and multi-buy promotions have also been removed.
An 80 items limit is now in place for all online orders.
Sainsbury's
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Unless you’re already registered as a Sainsbury’s online customer, Sainsbury’s has paused all new online registrations.
Update (01/04/20): If you have an existing account, we found some food delivery slots for March 31 and April 1 earlier in the week, but the elderly and vulnerable are being prioritised. The amount available will vary depending on your area, but it's a positive sign that Sainsbury's are beginning to cope with the unprecedented demand. The company offers a click & collect service but this is still unavailable.
In a message to customers, Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe has provided more insight into how the company is delivering to the elderly or vulnerable: "Many of you have written to me to tell me you are elderly or vulnerable and are struggling to book online delivery slots. We are doing our absolute best to offer online delivery slots to elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers. These customers have priority over all slots."
Sainsbury's revealed that their customer Careline has had "one year's worth of contacts in two weeks". Mike Coupe went on to add, "I apologise to our regular online customers, who I know are feeling very frustrated at not being able to book slots. Please bear with us and I hope you can understand why we feel the need to prioritise elderly and vulnerable customers at the moment."
How to sign up for an account
Due to the huge increase in online orders, new registrations have been paused for the time being. To sign up for a Sainsbury’s online account, enter your email address and fill in your details on the following page. Once you’ve finished, you can start shopping.
Benefits and perks
You can collect and spend Nectar Points with each online food shop. A Delivery Pass is also available, which can help you save up to £156 per year.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Elderly customers and those deemed as vulnerable will be offered priority delivery slots.
Asda
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Update (01/04/20): Asda will still let you register as new online customer, but online delivery slots are not available up until April 19. Click & Collect slots are also unavailable.
Similar to Ocado, Asda has now implemented a queue system to deal with the high volumes of traffic its website is receiving. There's no estimate as to where you are in the queue, though, or how long you'll have to wait. Items such as pasta, hand soap and toilet roll are also in high demand.
In an email to customers, Asda CEO Roger Burnley has shared some information regarding how the company is working to deliver online shopping: "We're providing our drivers with hand sanitiser and gloves, and making as many online shopping slots available as we can. We're encouraging those that are able to safely shop in person to do so - this allows us to deliver to the highly vunerable."
Roger Burnely went on to add "If you are self-isolating or have additional needs, please advise us in the 'other information' section when placing your order."
How to sign up for an account
Registering is quick and easy with Asda (it says as much on its website), simply enter your email, a password and then enter your delivery postcode and you’re good to go. You can choose whether to receive exclusive offers and the latest info from Asda too if you’d like.
Benefits and perks
Competitively priced and with a Delivery Pass available, Asda online shoppers can save up to £80 and £100 by choosing a 6-month or 12-month pass. Offers are clearly highlighted on the Asda website, so you’re never likely to miss a cracking deal.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Customers are limited to a three item maximum on all food, toiletries and cleaning products when ordering online.
When placing an online delivery order, anyone who is self-isolating is advised to fill in the ‘Other information’ section to advise where their order should be left, i.e. on the doorstep.
Ocado
Next delivery date: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Update (01/04/20): No more slots are available, according to Ocado's website. The company has seemingly ditched its queuing system in favour of a daily update that states whether or not delivery slots are available.
The company is also bringing order cut-off times forward, so customers are encouraged to complete their order in one session to avoid disappointment later. If you visit the Ocado website you’ll be placed in a virtual queue, which can take up to four hours (the brand has paused the app due to high demand).
In an email to existing customers on 25 March, Ocado Retail CEO Melanie Smith has said that "no matter how hard we work, we will not have enough capacity to serve the unprecedented levels of demand".
She went on to say that "new delivery slots will be released every day for the coming week, as and when we have capacity".
It's currently unclear whether Ocado is allowing new customers. If you do not have a delivery booked already, Ocado's website notes that there is "limited availability over the next few days".
How to sign up for an account
You can sign up to Ocado using a Facebook and PayPal account, or simply fill in your details such as your email address and postcode to register.Tick the box if you’d like to opt out of Ocado’s offers, vouchers and gifts before you hit ‘Register’.
Benefits and perks
New customers can enjoy three months free delivery with Smart Pass, and Ocado also offers one-hour delivery windows.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Ocado had to temporarily suspend its service due to high demand, but is now its back online. Customers can only book one delivery slot every seven days to free up more slots for other customers.
Some products are limited to one or two per order, and a small number of bulky items have been removed from sale to make more room in each delivery van. The company has shared how stockpiling has affected its service during the coronavirus outbreak.
Anytime Smart Pass members who joined before 2020 will be placed in a temporary priority queue so they can book a delivery slot each week. Ocado will send an email and text message between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00 to give members access to the queue.
Morrisons
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
The Morrisons website has recovered after being down for a few days, but there are still no delivery slots available at this time. There is also a very small selection of pasta.
How to sign up for an account
To sign up for a Morrisons online account, firstly enter your postcode to check if Morrisons deliver in your area. Once you’re given the all clear, enter your details and a password to register. You can also receive tailored offers, coupons and communications from Morrisons.
Benefits and perks
You can use a Facebook account to sign in, and Morrisons Quick Shop fills your trolley with the top things you might be wanting to buy with a single click. A Delivery Pass is also available with regular choices for those looking to do their weekly shop online.
Coronavirus measures and policies
Orders must be finalised 48 hours before delivery. Morrisons are working on introducing a number of measures to help reduce the amount of substitutes and missing items that some customers are encountering with their online food shops:
Waitrose
Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 01/04/20)
Waitrose is still accepting new customer registrations - however, all delivery and click & collect slots are unfortunately unavailable right now. You can still amend or cancel existing orders, though.
Update 01/04/20: Waitrose has updated its website to inform customers its supporting the vulnerable and elderly by giving them priority access to its home delivery and Click & Collect slots.
It doesn't look like many will open up in the near future either, as the brand isn't confirming any new slots at the moment - but that could well just be a lack of communication to the social media team:
How to sign up for an account
Signing up to Waitrose is simple - just fill in your details, such as your address and contact number, then click ‘next’ and you can start shopping straight away.
Benefits and perks
Waitrose has a number of attractive introductory offers, including a £30 saving on your first three online grocery shops. The website also includes hundreds of recipes and lists the ingredients so you can quickly add them to your basket.
Coronavirus measures and policies
The company has paused its online voucher codes along with any offer incentives until further notice. Some products have are restricted for a limited time, with customers only allowed to buy a maximum of two packets of toilet roll and three of any specific grocery item.
Entertainment products are also no longer available to order online for the foreseeable future. Substitutions for online orders cannot be returned to your driver if they have been handled, and drivers will not enter homes.
All online deliveries will be bagged as well to make them easier to collect quickly.
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