Frantic 蓄える／店s turn away online shoppers

by SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail

Last updated at 09:01 16 December 2005

Thousands of families who hoped to order their Christmas food and drink on the Internet are 存在 turned away as online grocers struggle to 対処する with a 殺到する in 需要・要求する.

With Christmas still nine days away, supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Ocado - which 配達するs for Waitrose - have stopped taking orders.

They say nearly all their 配達／演説／出産 slots for December 22, 23 and 24 have been taken and they cannot 保証（人） to honour その上の bookings.

It leaves those wanting to 避ける the pre-Christmas 鎮圧する at the tills 直面するing 失望.

Many are 砲撃するing the 蓄える／店s' 顧客 services departments with （民事の）告訴s.

Ocado said its orders are 75 per cent up on last year and it has had to turn away 10,000 顧客s.

Even greater numbers have been unable to get the 配達／演説／出産 slots they 手配中の，お尋ね者 from Tesco and Sainsbury's.

A 広報担当者 for Tesco said orders had leapt to 200,000 a week, up 30,000 on normal.

"This is 明白に a popular service around Christmas," she 追加するd.

"Some 98 per cent of the slots on our last 配達／演説／出産 day, December 22, have gone. Ninety per cent have gone for December 21.

"We have been in 接触する with 顧客s since the beginning of the month advising people to place orders 早期に. Many have taken that advice and have been ordering their turkeys in 早期に December."

Sainsbury's running out

A Sainsbury's 広報担当者 said it would 配達する until December 23. But he 追加するd that 92 per cent of the slots for that date had gone, with a 類似の picture for the previous day.

"需要・要求する has been やめる astounding," he said. "We are making around 41,000 配達／演説／出産s a week, which is up by around 30 per cent on the same time last year."

Asda has 二塁打d the number of 配達／演説／出産 slots for next week, to 30,000. But most of these are already 調書をとる／予約するd and it is fully 調書をとる／予約するd for December 22, its last 配達／演説／出産 date.

Neil Jewsbury, of Ocado.com, said: "The convenience of shopping online is 運動ing the 傾向. People find the 蓄える／店s congested and prefer to spend their leisure time doing other things.

"It is also much better for 激しい本体，大部分／ばら積みの items, like drink. Orders are up 75 per cent on last year.

"Such has been the 需要・要求する that we could have 増加するd orders by 200 per cent, but we did not want to 妥協 on 顧客 service.

"It is too horrible to imagine what would happen if people placed an order for their Christmas food and we weren't able to 配達する."

The rise in grocery orders is part of a general 転換 to shopping on the Internet. Total Christmas sales are 推定する／予想するd to 越える￡5billion, up 45 per cent on last year.

If you have had difficulties shopping online for Christmas gifts or groceries this year, please e-mail us with the 詳細（に述べる）s at shopping@dailymail.co.uk.