Woolworths will slash opening hours at dozens of its stores across Australia to prioritise delivering much-needed groceries to vulnerable people
- Woolworths will reduce trading hours to prioritise vulnerable customers
- Opening hours at 41 stores across the country will change to 11am-6pm
- Woolworths will pick online orders and meet increased demand from the elderly
- It comes after Woolworths create a dedicated hour for the elderly from 7-8am
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Woolworths will reduce trading hours at dozens of its stores so workers can deliver groceries to elderly people and those with disabilities.
From tomorrow, the supermarket giant will slash opening hours at 41 stores across Australia to 11am to 6pm.
The ‘priority delivery hubs’ will use the extra closed hours to pick online orders and meet increased demand from vulnerable groups struggling to get to the shops amid the coronavirus pandemic.
‘To help support getting basic food and essentials to those that need it most, our teams have been doing everything they can to scale up online and home deliveries to the elderly, people with disabilities or those in mandatory self-isolations,’ Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said
The ‘priority delivery hubs’ will use the extra closed hours to pick online orders and meet increased demand from vulnerable groups struggling to get to the shops amid the coronavirus pandemic
The move comes a week after Woolworths announced it will open doors to vulnerable groups exclusively from 7am to 8am amid coronavirus panic buying
‘Following an extraordinary level of demand for groceries in recent weeks, reducing trading hours in a small number of our stores to turn them into ‘Priority Delivery Hubs’ will help us assist more people who can’t access a store to get products they need.’
The move comes a week after Woolworths announced it will open doors to the elderly and those with disabilities exclusively from 7am to 8am due to panic buying.
The decision aimed to help the elderly and disabled to stock up without being overwhelmed by the panic buying chaos within some stores.
Shoppers must show a government-issued seniors or disability card to be granted early access.
Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of COVID-19 at the beginning of March has seen stores stripped of essentials such as toilet paper, pasta and tinned and other dried food.
Some shoppers have even become embroiled in ugly confrontations over the limited stock, particularly toilet paper.
Stark photos showed empty shelves and jam packed trolleys as shoppers flocked to supermarkets and cleared the shelves.
Last week Scott Morrison urged Australians to stop hoarding food and other essential supplies, as fights between anxious customers broke out at supermarkets around the country.
The decision aimed to help the elderly and disabled to stock up without being overwhelmed by the panic buying chaos within some stores
The Prime Minister said the panic-buying chaos sweeping grocery stores has been one of the ‘most disappointing things’ he has seen in ‘Australian behaviour’ in response to this crisis.
Supermarkets have been forced to introduce buying limits on items due to the surge in demand for goods.
Coles customers are limited to buying just one pack of toilet paper and two packets of pasta, flour, rice, paper towels, hand sanitizer and other essentials.
Woolworths is also enforcing buying limits of one packet of toilet paper, baby wipes and rice per shopper.