Essential retail

Aldi

Aldi plans to roll out click-and-collect shopping to 200 of its stores before Christmas. Shoppers can choose from Aldi’s full range of grocery items online, drive to their local store and have their orders brought to their cars, contact-free, by a member of staff.

Aldi UK boss Giles Hurley said: “We know that more and more people want to buy high-quality food at unbeatable Aldi prices – particularly at the moment – and this trial has been hugely popular so far.

“By extending it to hundreds of new stores, we’re making Aldi accessible to thousands of shoppers who might never have visited one of our stores before.”

During the pandemic, it started selling a select number of grocery products through Deliveroo, before trialling its own click-and-collect service.

To that end, Aldi has added a further 90 stores as collection points as part of its Deliveroo trial, meaning it now offers the home delivery service to customers from nearly 130 stores across the UK. 

Asda

Asda introducing rationing of certain lines during the first lockdown and a spokesman said this time around, while it had no limits on in-store purchases, it had introduced limits on bulk online purchases, though this is about “maximising space” in delivery vans as opposed to any issues with availability. 

The spokesman added: “Our stores are also well-versed in managing spikes in demand both in terms of customer footfall and demand for certain types of products so we are confident we can handle any challenges that arise from the second lockdown.”

Like other grocers, Asda can continue to sell its general merchandise, fashion and homewares lines during the lockdown but in-store cafes will be required to close or sell takeaway-only products.

Boots

Boots stores will remain open as an essential business. Unlike the first lockdown, the retailer’s beauty counters will also be open.

The high street chain is offering rapid coronavirus tests for shoppers who want to get tested but are not showing symptoms. The test takes 12 minutes to be processed and costs £120. The trial is running in 50 stores but could be rolled out to 200 before Christmas if there is sufficient demand.

Boots managing director Seb James said: “Boots has supported the government’s Covid-19 testing programme from the very start and offering this new in-store service is the next step in our efforts to fight against the pandemic. We hope that by offering this testing option in local community stores, Boots can help ease pressure on the NHS and the government by providing additional access to testing and crucial reassurances for people across the UK. As part of the UK high street for over 170 years, Boots is proud to serve on the front line alongside the NHS and we will continue to do our part to support the nation’s healthcare needs during this challenging time and beyond.”

Halfords

The cycling retailer’s stores remain open. The business is offering free car health checks to teachers, emergency services staff and members of the armed forces as well as a 10% discount on Halfords products.

Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat qualifies as an essential retailer but boss Angus Thirlwell said the retailer will only keep stores open where demand is sufficiently strong. As a result, the business has 35 of its 125 stores open.

John Lewis Partnership

John Lewis’ department stores are classed as non-essential and have been forced to close during the second lockdown but operations director Andrew Murphy told Retail Week the business plans to offer click-and-collect services from all 42 of its branches, as well as continuing to provide click and collect through  Waitrose branches and Co-op stores.

Waitrose has remained open throughout the pandemic. 

Lidl

Lidl has increased its hourly wages for more than 200,000 staff, marking its sixth consecutive year of pay rises.

Lidl sai due to the increase, its staff would benefit from a minimum of 78p more than the current government national minimum wage of £8.72 per hour (for over -5s) outside of the M25 and £2.13 within the M25.

Lidl GB chief executive Christian Härtnagel said: “This is about recognising their hard work and dedication in keeping the nation fed during a year like no other. They have served our customers through extremely challenging times and we will always be there to support them in return.”

Marks & Spencer

M&S’ food halls qualify as essential and remain open. Although the retailer’s clothing and homeware divisions will be closed to shoppers, alongside the retailer’s in-store cafes, they will be able to order items from these ranges online and collect them from food halls. 

Chief executive Steve Rowe said the retailer is “lobbying hard” for extended Sunday trading hours in the run-up to Christmas after the lockdown is scheduled end on December 2.

The retailer is also expanding use of a “scan, pay and go” app-based service to all of its 573 UK grocery stores. Shoppers can spend up to £45 using the technology, which is available via the retailer’s Sparks app.

Stores director Helen Milford said: “With the current restrictions in place, making shopping as easy and efficient as possible is really important to us and to our customers. Mobile Pay Go helps do just that.”

M&S have said they will extend opening hours at stores until midnight in the run up to Christmas. The retailer expects December 21 through to 23 to be the busiest time for Christmas trading this year and will trade 400 stores, roughly half of its estate, through to midnight during this period. 

Morrisons

Morrisons has launched a meal delivery service for pupils who may need to self-isolate due to a Covid-19 outbreak who would otherwise be entitled to free school meals. 

The food delivery service, called Morrisons Kids Meal Pack, covers breakfast, lunch and dinner for as long as a child needs to self-isolate. 

Morrisons boss Dave Potts is also understood to be among the grocery bosses lobbying ministers to extend Sunday trading hours in the run-up to Christmas.

The grocer is offering a 10% discount for all all Blue Light Card holders - including care workers, members of the NHS, the armed forces and emergency services for the forseable future.  

Morrisons has launched a partnership with Next, opening three click and return pods in store carparks. 

Pets at Home

Pets at Home has launched an express 60-minute click-and-collect service across its stores in a bid to drive convenience for customers during the pandemic.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s has rolled out twin delivery partnership pilots with Uber Eats and Deliveroo, giving customers access to more than 1,000 products.

The trial will initially be rolled out in London and expand across the rest of the UK if it is successful.

Sainsbury’s is understood to be among grocers lobbying ministers for extended Sunday trading hours before Christmas to spread demand and control shopper numbers in store.

Tesco

Tesco is to pay all of its workers in stores, warehouses and its customer engagement centre a 10% bonus for hours worked between December 13 and January 9, while workers will receive an extended 20% discount on their shopping at Tesco in the run-up to Christmas.

This comes after the retailer offered a similar bonus to staff for their efforts in the early stages of the pandemic for hours worked between March 9 and May 30. 

UK and Ireland boss Jason Tarry said: “The hard work, dedication and resilience that colleagues have shown over the last few months has been remarkable. This year has proven challenging and uncertain for so many of us and this bonus is a way of saying thank you for the incredible response of our colleagues to these challenges.”

Tesco is also understood to be among the grocers lobbying for extended Sunday trading hours.

The grocer has also introduced a traffic light system at the entrance of its stores that tells a customer when they can safely enter based on the number of shoppers already in-branch. The rollout of this technology began in September and will be installed at all of Tesco’s large-format stores and some convenience stores. 

‘Non-essential’ retail

DFS

Unlike the first lockdown, DFS has not been counted as essential during this lockdown, so its 181 showrooms across England have been forced to close. The retailer’s online business remains open and it will continue to fulfil existing orders and deliver to customers’ homes.

Dixons Carphone

Dixons Carphone’s retail chain Currys PC World will be offering click-and-collect online shopping to customers throughout lockdown as well as its video shopping service ShopLive, which allows customers to be connected to a member of staff in-store to demonstrate and answers questions about potential purchases.

Dunelm

Dunelm has been forced to shut the doors of its 145 English stores – a move the business said was “both unexpected and inconsistent” with the previous guidelines issued in May.

The retailer will offer click and collect from all its English stores during the lockdown, where products can be delivered to a customer’s car, or a designated spot outside the store within three hours of ordering.

It has also introduced a ”snap and shop” service, where customers can an image recognition feature for customers to find the best matches within the Dunelm range from pictures of desired home furnishings, and is trialling virtual shopping appointments for customers to be guided around store.

Fenwick

Fenwick has shut its stores during lockdown but streamed the unveiling of its Christmas window at its Newcastle flagship on Facebook Live to 250,000 viewers worldwide.

Lush

Lush has partnered with on-demand delivery service Stuart to fulfil online orders for shoppers in as little last two hours during lockdown. Shoppers are able to place orders directly with their local Lush shop with orders then fulfilled directly from that branch, with 45 stores initially included in the scheme. Lush is also operating a click-and-collect service at all of its England branches.

Next

Next’s stores are closed but it is offering click and collect from approximately 300 of its 390-strong English store estate. 

Primark

Primark’s shop are shut but parent ABF’s finance director John Bason told Retail Week that being able to open for longer when the lockdown in England ends at the start of December would be good for shoppers and their safety during peak.

Bason said: “We’d look for longer opening hours. There will be big demand. It’s busy enough at Christmas in normal times, never mind now. It’s not about creating crowds, it’s about managing and spreading demand.”