Our supermarkets have been doing a brilliant job in impossible times and we need to forgive them - Ros Snowdon

The latest research from Kantar shows the sector saw market growth of a whopping 21 per cent over the past four weeks, driven by a 22 per cent leap in alcohol sales as pubs and restaurants closed and shoppers stocked up on supplies for virtual gatherings at home.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said grocery sales amounting to £10.8bn during the past four weeks alone is even higher than levels seen at Christmas, the busiest time of year under normal circumstances.

Large number of people are now doing Friday night drinks with their colleagues on Zoom. I was invited to a virtual birthday party on Saturday with a resident DJ (my neighbour’s husband).

Indeed, my 18 year old son now spends the early hours on Houseparty, mixing with mates and leaving the evidence of a good night for me to find in the morning in the way of empty Corona beer bottles. He says he’s doing his bit to help the firm, which has suffered due to its unfortunate name.

Contrary to general assumptions, Mr McKevitt said that panic buying has been concentrated to a relatively small number of individuals and this will taper off as supermarkets show they can restock their shelves.

He said very few people are stockpiling and only 6 per cent of households stockpiled handwash. Instead, the empty shelves have been caused by everybody going out and buying slightly more.

Supermarkets will need to issue an apology to previous online customers, who rely on the service for their weekly shop, as we have been locked out of the service for the past two weeks. Many readers have had scheduled deliveries cancelled at the last minute with no apology or explanation.

As we discover other ways of filling our fridges (the local butcher has been wonderful), many of us won’t return. I’m locked out of my online grocery provider because it has redirected me too many times. There is no way to rectify this. You can phone them and after an annoying 10 minutes of drivel, they tell you that they are too busy to take your call. Why not tell customers that at the beginning of the call?

That said, our supermarkets have been doing a brilliant job in impossible times and I think we have to forgive them for the poor online service recently.

Unfortunately there are capacity constraints in the system. Mr McKevitt said there are only so many trucks out there and there are only so many qualified drivers.

In many cases, the slip in service is because senior and vulnerable citizens have greater needs than the rest of us, which is only right and fair.

However, an apology when things calm down would go a long way to attracting us back.

Mr McKevitt said that shoppers will be even more dependent on supermarkets in the coming weeks, with restaurants and pubs closed across the country. This means that another 503 million meals will have to be prepared and eaten at home every week until restrictions ease.

We are just going to have to be patient. Our road has a WhatsApp neighbour group and anyone who has secured an online delivery is buying goods for neighbours who can’t get one.

At the same time, anyone going to the bakers tells the group so an extra loaf can be delivered to neighbours who need one.

There have been so many unpleasant stories that we need to focus on the good ones.

The ones that show we are much stronger if we work together.

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