Coles to lift more product restrictions
Supermarket giant Coles will again make available popular items it was forced to set limits on during the mass “panic buying” early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Supermarket giant Coles is lifting restrictions on items that were popular during the mass “panic buying” early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an email to customers, Coles CEO Steve Cain said popular products such as pasta, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes and sugar would once again be freely available.
Earlier this week, Coles expended trading hours with its decision to open close to 200 stores earlier at 6am.
In a media statement on Monday, Coles said it was reopening Community Hour to all customers again as well as opening earlier.
Coles Chief Operations Officer Matt Swindells said Coles Community Hour had been very popular with eligible shoppers.
But with the reduction in panic buying and product availability almost back to normal, he said it was time to welcome all customers back whenever stores were open.
“Our number one priority remains the health and safety of customers and our team members,” he said.
As the government begins to look at easing restrictions, customers should remember that appropriate safety practices will still apply and ask all customers to support with the same amazing collaboration we’ve seen in the past few weeks.”
Coles has also reopened Coles Online orders, which had been dedicated entirely to elderly and vulnerable customers to all shoppers.
“We’ve doubled our capacity in Coles Online so there is now more opportunity than ever for customers to either have their groceries delivered to their homes or collect them at their convenience,” he said.
PRODUCT RESTRICTIONS EASED
Supermarkets are continuing to ease their product restrictions on items including toilet paper and pasta as panic buying subsides.
Woolworths has eased product limits on items including toilet paper, rice, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes as customer demand for these goods gradually returns to normal.
Limits will still remain on these products but will be eased from one per shop to either two or four per shop.
Toilet paper and rice will move from a one product per customer to four per shop.
In other categories the supermarket giant has lifted product limits entirely including on pasta, frozen vegetables, tissues, baby wipes, baked beans, canned spaghetti, paper towels and disposable gloves.
Restrictions were first rolled out in March at the height of the panic-buying frenzy as COVID-19 started to spread in Australia.
It was done in a move to ensure customers could still access the products they needed despite being in a limited capacity.
Woolworths Supermarkets managing director Claire Peters said she’s pleased to ease the product limits.
“We are now in a position where out customers will see better product availability across the categories that have been challenged by the increased demand over the past two months,” she said.
“While their favourite brand within the category may not always be on the shelf we are confident an alternative option should be available for the customer to purchase.”
She said the supermarket would continue to keep a close eye on product levels to ensure they kept up with shopper demand.
Rival supermarket Coles has also took limits off toilet paper and paper towels on Tuesday.
“We are pleased to be able to remove purchase limits at Coles on key household staples like toilet paper and paper towel, and expect to remove further limits as customer demand continues to stabilise and more categories see supply levels return to normal,” the Coles spokesman said.
“We are grateful for the efforts of our suppliers to deliver significantly increased volumes to meet the recent unexpected surge in customer demand and to our customers for their patience.”
Coles still has two item per person limits on flour, dry rice, eggs, frozen vegetables, frozen desserts, liquid soap and antibacterial wipes.
At ALDI, limit purchases still apply to the following products:
*Toilet paper – 1 unit
*Flour – 2 units
*Dry rice – 2 units
*Hand sanitisers – 2 units
*Eggs – 2 units
*Liquid soap – 2 units
Originally published as Coles to lift more product restrictions
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