Supermarket Queues

[SuckingDownDarjeeling]

Please forgive my ignorance here. I've been wondering if "lockdown" = "supermarkets expecting queues to enter the store".

The other day there was a queue at my local Tesco metro. Sainsbury's and Asda have been letting people stroll in, as long as they are wearing a face mask, distancing, etc.

So from now, will supermarkets be required to make people queue to get in? Or will they have the freedom to judge and organise as they see fit?

Up here so many get in at ine time. That's not changed during a local lockdown or the circuit break. Theres never been long queues.
There is no need for ppl to do large supermarkets shops, theyre not closed.

Since September I’ve been to my local Tesco or Sainsbury’s once a week.
Tesco I’ve always walked straight in.
Sainsbury’s sometimes I’ve had to queue (about 10mins max). I go on the same day at the same time. I don’t why I queue one week and not the next, it might be weather related - the Sainsbury’s car park is underground so if the weather is awful people may go there instead of Tesco 🤷‍♀️

I live in what was a Tier 1 area.

I haven't queued since June

I haven’t queued at Aldi or Lidl but that wasn’t during the national lockdown. M&S have nearly always had a queuing system in place and I went at the weekend and they had started restricting the amount of people in store again. I nipped into Lidl today and it virtually empty...I spoke to the cashier who said wait until tomorrow (start of lockdown) and it will be busy...really? He said it was packed out all through lockdown, the hours flew by!

An email I got from Sainsbury’s earlier this week was saying that as of today elderly and vulnerable customers would be able to go straight into the store and not queue up during winter so Sainsbury’s must be anticipating people queuing.

I heard that Tesco may be limiting numbers going in and reintroducing the one way system - I can’t find any information on it, it was something I heard.

If it helps I've not had to queue once going into shops during the welsh lockdown

I think numbers are now going to be monitored and yes if needed queuing will come back. The queuing was affected by people panic buying which hasn't been as bad.

I haven't queued in months. A few times when it is busy the entrance gets clogged with people wiping down basket handles or just dithering so you have to wait but no queues like first lockdown.

They just keep an eye on the number of people in store and make people queue in busy periods. I had to queue for a short while on Saturday but the place was empty when I popped in last night.

When lockdown first happened I was queueing most week for either morrisons or tesco, little asda and m and s I walked straight in.

The issue I think with supermarkets in lockdown is because there is nowhere else to go, people go when they are bored. So during normal times they cook and eat what they have in. When everyone is either wfh or furloughed they go out to the supermarket to 'get something nice for dinner' because they are bored.

Add to that the non essential stuff they sell (like toys) and I bet we all have to start queueing to get in again.

Am just hoping that going Monday morning straight from the school run avoids the worst of it. Bloody hate queueing.

I've had to queue here in Birmingham, M&S in recent weeks again and Dunhelm in September.

Areas vary dramatically though. My relatives in Bristol did not experience queuing throughout Lockdown, food stocked on the shelves. They couldn't comprehend the queues in Birmingham.

It was not great here, my local Tesco made the news as the queues were so awful.

I haven't been queueing for a long time either except the day it happened to be the sainsurys half price toy sale! Yesterday I went to also aldi, walked straight in. No baby wipes annoyingly (I have two babies) and the lady in front of me at the checkout brought 16, yes, 16 antibac sprays across two shops. The cashier raised an eye, called the manager who said the couldn't stop her as the limits had only be reimpossed on rice and pasta so far. The lady purchasing said she 'neeeeeeeeeesed them' what a prat

Tesco are going to provide sanitised umbrellas for use by people queueing in the rain outside their stores so, clearly, they are expecting queues.

The supermarkets have now installed Perspex till screens etc so maybe they can have more tills open than the first lockdown? Hopefully that means people are in the store for less time and so the one in one out goes faster

Around me has gone back to one in one out.

More stores are putting in place traffic light systems, so that will lead to queues at busy times.

Sainsburys near me has had a staff member on the entrance throughout so if you go at a popular time then you queue. Tesco has just installed traffic lights above the door so you are only supposed to enter if they're on green. I've never seen them on red yet so don't know if people stick to it or not. Our Aldi store was new in June (having delayed opening because of Covid). They also have a traffic light system.
Lidl, however, seems to be a free for all as it mostly was even during the last lockdown. So potentially people will have to queue at busy times in most supermarkets.

Where I am, all shops have a sign outside with their maximum capacity so maybe that's why some have queues and some don't? Some shops were busier at that time, so had to queue to not over fill the store.

I actually feel reassured to see a queue because it means that store is taking things seriously and monitoring the numbers going in. They aren't 'making people queue' as such but keeping tabs on square footage of the shop and customers allowed in to try to ensure safe distancing.

Although once inside if all those customers are in one aisle it all falls apart a bit.

Our local Tesco had a limit of 400 on the shop floor, but that had to include their own staff. They took on loads of order pickers during the summer so that's meant less actual customers allowed in. Last month they had sensors fitted above the entrance and exit so they know when they're reaching capacity.

M&S have introduced a book online system for shopping slots, so you can reserve your space and avoid any queues.

My local Sainsburys changed their entry door after last lockdown to one which doesn't really allow much space for queueing. Since then I haven't ever had to queue to get in. I was there at the weekend, and they had change the entry door to the one which does have space for queueing, and had marked out spots on the pavement for queuers to stand on. I asked the man who was staffing the door why they had changed and why they were expecting queues when there haven't been any for months, and he said they are reducing their capacity for lockdown. He said they increased after the last lockdown but have been told to reduce it again. I don't understand why, as the size of the shop has not changed, and social distancing has been 2m for the entire time, so capacity should remain the same. If it was ok to allow x number of people in last week, why isn't it ok in lockdown.

My local Tesco now has sensors on the door also.

Hate queuing outside.

I haven't been in a queue since the 1m+ thing was introduced. Our Tesco has a traffic light, Waitrose has a security guard but I think they just keep an eye so people don't congregate on the escalator.

I had an email from one of the shops - could be any of them to say they're trying a queue in your car app, so they are expecting things to get busy maybe in the run up to Christmas combined with bad weather?

I went to a town yesterday and many shops had a queue so I think they are coming back. Yesterday was ok, it was dry and the sun out so a bit of warmth. Wouldn't want to do it in bad weather.

There is no need for ppl to do large supermarkets shops, they're not closed.

So it's better for people to go multiple times then, just to do smaller shops? What is a large shop anyway?