To feel like UK shops are perpetually out of stock

[Frederita]

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone because noone else is saying anything or noticeably irritated like I am. 5 years ago, I was able to get anything within reason from a major retailer online or on the high street.

Argos was always stocked and did same day deliveries for pesky household staples that that needed a quick replacement like unexpected guests and needing extra towels but not having time to go shopping. Literally anything within reason except for seasonal things like fans which ran out (but often close to mid season with a shipment on the way to end out the season). Argos never has anything for delivery unless 300 miles away or collection 20 miles away.

And it's not just them, John Lewis, Debenham (online), M&S, small businesses, even Amazon can be sparse and everything takes 2 days now.

Now I feel like I have to try several shops for one thing and most are always out of stock. FFS even a food shop is impossible to complete in one shop regardless of price just sheer lack of availability.

Yes we had a pandemic (much expected then), Brexit and a war but am I insane for not wanting to hunt down every single thing across multiple different shops. I'm already plus sized so clothes are next to impossible already and that's all I have tolerance for - I don't want to have the same experience with my bloody food shop and common household goods too! Am I the only one experiencing this. Maybe its location specific, I'm in London if that makes a difference.

Am I really alone feeling like this?

Brexit

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in a customs union any more.

It's not just you and it is very very shit.

#brexitfoodshortages is currently trending on twitter. Tomatoes are having to be rationed. The BBC are blaming bad weather in Spain, but all EU supermarkets are brimming full of fresh produce (as evidenced by many timestamped photos).

Shortages are not limited to tomatoes - as your experiences show. But yes it's brexit, and yes people are noticing but unfortunately there is still a massive contingent of people, the media and the government who want to keep their heads in the sand and deny it is happening, or admit the true cause.

Shops have relied on “just in time” for too long. They used to have stock rooms! The shortage of lorry drivers continues to be a big problem.

I have noticed this. Even the tomato shortage in the news today - plenty in the store yesterday, though not my favourite variety!
But I've been able to get anything I need here in London. I just renovated my house last year and there were no issues in getting materials even ( though I'm sure I paid more).

Gosh, and that's in London? You're not imagining this. btw.
i don't buy many things & even I notice.

It's massively shit. I know why but honestly add being disabled to the list and I'm just fucking exhausted because I can't physically go to shops, most of my shopping is online and its a toss up as collection is sometimes better but then I have to ask someone to get it for me or take a taxi (waiting for adapted vehicle - another thing that's taking ages for similar reasons), usually no seating around in supermarkets particularly and I'm scared I'll have a fall.

And then I just have to panic buy stuff when I see it even if I don't immediately need it because when I do it won't be in stock or I'll struggle to get it because of my limited mobility.

It's shit, shit shit

Ahhh. I hear you. I am finding it difficult and stressful to plan and food shop. And I have a car! It shouldn't be so much effort.

I don't know what your budget is like but I have actually found those meal kit companies quite good, you know gousto and the like. At least they have to substitute reasonably, and you know what it's going to cost and what's available. It's not cheap, but going to the supermarket isn't cheap either now and it's stressful. I do the special offer, cancel, try another for a bit then by then I've got another offer through.

Just an idea - I've found it gives me a bit of headspace.

I hope you get your vehicle soon. That will make a big difference in practical terms.

I'm away on holiday for a couple of weeks but have restarted my meal kit subscription. That sorts out most of the food shop aspect, but things like not being able to get toilet paper for a couple of weeks (most of December I couldn't get toilet paper from 4 different supermarket online shops) really get to me.

Once I get my vehicle I'm off to Costco for some bulk buying because you never know what will or won't arrive with an online shop. It's a surprise what will turn up and whether you will get a carrot cake as a substitution for the packet of sponges you need to clean (yes rhis was a real sub).

This. Despite some saying otherwise. I'm in retail although not shop floor and it's impacting on all our suppliers. We are struggling and it's mainly down to brexit.

Brexit; the gift that keeps on taking.

Aldi have said they are rationing fruit & veg . Except they never have any to ration.

Love spending my days driving from shop to shop.

There definitely have been some supply issues but I haven’t noticed it with toilet paper. Seriously, no toilet paper from 4 different shops for most of December? Where do you live and which shops are you using?

I know its in the news right now but our local sainsbury has had low stock / empty shelves in fruit and veg aisle for months.
Yesterday a whole section of freezer aisle was empty, I guess we are used to it after covid but it's really frustrating that we no longer have the supply of food we had 3 years ago.

My local Sainsbury’s no veg yesterday apart from salad leaves and avocados, no eggs, little milk, no garlic... it's a disaster and every time I hear the news on the radio blaming "bad weather" I want to scream!

Not only is sm full of photos from ex pats telling us "no shortages in eu" but I personally have friends that are ex pats telling me it's a load of bullshit! That there's plenty of the supposedly sparse veggies where they live in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands & Germany.

Bad enough the govt lying but we kinda expect it from them Wtf are the journalists playing at?!

The only thing I’ve noticed being out of stock is eggs. Which is presumably due to avian flu?

Honestly I don’t recognise the apocalypse that seems to have struck outwith the M25. Life here in London for me is the same as it ever was.

as many people prefer online shopping now (which has the potential logistics for much more items - all sizes/wider ranges/niche things) there’s no real incentive for shops to have all products in stock at all times unless it’s a bestseller. Shops get recognition by getting customers to order in store too. The retail market has changed.

There’s also been shortages and issues with deliveries so even popular items may be low in stock.

personally haven’t noticed anything major missing recently though

I guess they're trying to calm anger maybe. I dunno. It just makes me more angry tbh.

@Frederita Costco sounds like a good plan once you get your wheels. I've noticed periodic shortages in everything household related - loo roll and cleaning products, not all shops all the time but enough to impact you if you can't drive around and get from one to another quickly. In the meantime I think there are companies that just sell bulk bogroll. Sure I've seen adverts for them, all eco friendly and the like.

To think that sovereignty means fucking bogroll subscriptions. For fucking fucks sake.

Lol. This was my nearest supermarket at 5.15 pm a couple of weeks ago. Damn right the retail market has changed.

Half of this country voted to make trading with our nearest neighbours really difficult. None of this should be a surprise. Hey but the NHS is getting GBP300M a week. Oh wait.
I’m relocating to a EU country this year and will miss London terribly but won’t miss the madness that is the U.K. now.

Good article on how Brexit is contributing significantly to current tomato shortage. www.theneweuropean.co.uk/tomato-shortage-leaves-brexit-britain-red-faced/

And here's an article to say it's not:

www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/22/problem-shortage-fresh-food-uk-supermarkets

You didn't actually read the article you linked, did you. I mean, that's what I'd expect from a pro-Brexit person so I'm not surprised, but still. Very poor show.

Hahaha!

From the article:

Are things worse in the UK than the rest of Europe?
It seems so. There are no reports of shortages in France and Germany and European shoppers have shared photos on social media of full supermarket shelves, in stark contrast to British supermarkets.