Sainsbury’s supermarket rule changes in-store and online amid Christmas shopping rush

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Sainsbury’s is just one of the supermarkets making changes ahead of Christmas to help ease the flow of customers into the stores. There are also some new rules online which shoppers should be aware of.

The supermarket giant recently released its Christmas delivery food slots, and customers can book their dedicated slot between December 20 and December 23.

Their delivery service is closed on December 24 so if shoppers are looking to get their food shop delivered, customers are urged to do so soon.

Customers can also amend their shopping baskets as many times as they wish up until 11pm the day before their delivery date to ensure they have everything they need for the big day.

With shopping habits turning online this year, Sainsbury’s has also offered alternative ways for customers to get their festive shop without having to go in-store.

A statement on their website says: “Did you know we’ve expanded our contactless Click & Collect service to over 300 locations.

“Our Christmas delivery slots fill up fast, if you can’t see a delivery slot for the date you’d like, why not try Click & Collect?”

However, for those still wishing to pick up their groceries in-store, there are certain new rules that have been recently implemented.

The pandemic has meant that all supermarkets have had to change their way of operating this year.

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From hand sanitiser stations at the entrances to social distancing while in-store, many supermarkets are still experiencing queues outside of the stores.

With queues very likely in the lead up to Christmas, the supermarket is using a virtual queue via an app on your mobile device.

This will be helpful for customers who find themselves in a long queue as the weather gets colder.

Customers without a smartphone can ask a member of staff to be added to the virtual queue, and will be alerted when they can enter the store.

The app is available in 55 branches across the UK and is provided by Ufirst, which was first trialled back in July.

Asda is also using an app to help manage the flow of customers in and out of stores.

In other supermarket news, Tesco is also making changes to their Clubcard scheme which sees its partnership with Now TV being dropped.

At the moment, customers can spend their collected points on Now TV credit with it tripling in value.

From January, the deal will no longer be available for shoppers and they won’t be able to exchange their points for Now TV credit.

If customers already had some credit, that will still be valid up until the expiration date supplied in the email sent when exchanged.

A statement on the Tesco website reads: “Unfortunately, NOW TV will leave the Clubcard scheme on 31 January 2021.

“You will be able to exchange your Clubcard vouchers until this date and any vouchers you receive must be redeemed before the expiry date included in your latest email.”

For customers planning to do their Christmas shop in Tesco, there are new opening hours for the supermarket.

Over 300 stores will be open 24 hours a day from December 14 to Christmas Eve with many other stores extending hours to be open from 5am.

There are currently a handful of stores across the country on trial for keeping them open 24 hours ahead of the Christmas period.

The retailer also recently released its Christmas delivery slots for customers wanting to shop online this year.

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