Super markets step up in supplying consumers
Some patrons of the supermarkets are expressing their appreciation for the exceptional services provided to meet the heavy demand in maintaining supply lines day and night. There were also complaints that supermarkets were not as responsive as expected.
One of them, Keells Super, has spelled out their strategies which they have formulated to meet the exigencies of this critical hour, an email dialogue with Keells reveals.
Charitha Subasinghe, President – Retail Sector of the John Keells Group indicated that despite the uncertainty the country is facing, their network since last week prepared for different contingencies. The ‘Teams’ that are entrusted for the task have been appraised on the importance of ensuring their stores keep adequate stocks and ensure customers have access to their daily needs.
Since March 23, Keells has implemented several measures ensuring the safety of their customers as well as the members of the team, such as limiting the customers inside the store to 15 at any given time (when open); requesting all to strictly maintain the one metre distance rule and bring in restrictions on the maximum quantity of products a customer can purchase on a day.
On March 24, they kept the stores open until serving all customers in the queue, to ensure every family had access to essentials that they needed.
Evaluating the situation, since March 25, they operated 16 selected outlets daily between 2-5 pm for medical staff and those working in healthcare services, the police and armed forces. They also reactivated their online ordering and delivery services on customer demand, partnering with several logistics services providers in the delivery to the doorstep of the customers. Some customers complained that the process was slow.
The teams immediately adjusted to work around the clock with their suppliers and distribution centres to ensure sufficient stocks are available to customers. The fresh food supply chain also started working with their collection centres and farmers, ensuring vegetable and fruits available in the outlets in time to cater to customer needs.
The online ordering site www.keellssuper.com has been active since March 26 despite the significant traffic executing their optimum even to make deliveries during curfew time.
They have placed safety of paramount importance by taking measures such as increased frequency of cleaning routines of public spaces including trolley and basket handles and placing hand sanitizers in visible locations for customer use and at certain locations, hand washing facilities.
| Grocery delivery sites see order spikes, struggle to meet demand | |
| Grocery delivery sites are doubling and trying to triple their capacity while struggling with orders after many in Colombo and the suburbs have turned to online providers to get their regular supplies under a curfew forcing them to remain at home.This huge surge in people looking to buy food online has seen some sites crashing from high traffic while consumers restricted from visiting the local supermarket /stores endure cancellations and long waits on orders they are placing. Companies say that many customers are calling them non-stop, at times forcing them to take the phones off the hook. The delivery sites are doing the best they can. Some sites are trying to build more capacity while others have crashed and stopped taking orders. The good news is that, e-commerce sales have risen in recent days, all sites said noting that search shopping could become more mainstream in and around cities in the near future. (DEC)
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