// Waitrose stores across the country faced stock shortages over the Bank Holiday weekend
// This was caused by an IT glitch, which the supermarket said had now been fixed
Waitrose has apologised to its customers after an IT glitch had left shelves bare across many of its supermarkets over the Bank Holiday.
The issue meant essentials including fruit and vegetables were not delivered as a system update took longer than expected.
Shoppers in stores from Edinburgh to the Channel Islands all claimed they couldn’t buy the items they wanted before the Bank Holiday weekend, which is a busy trading time for supermarket chains.
Many customers took to social media to share their frustrations over the disruption to supply.
Here we go again. Worcester @waitrose today. Empty vegetable shelves. what’s the excuse this time? Heat wave in Spain? No HGV drivers? Management failure? Supply chain disruption? Brexit? #BrokenBritain pic.twitter.com/FJE2g5BU8T
— Nick Baldwin (@iWalknTalk) May 26, 2023
Scenes of apocalypse in local @waitrose.
(Yes, I appreciate it’s 6.30pm a Bank Holiday Sunday) pic.twitter.com/xsVOkolA93— Harry Wallop (@hwallop) May 28, 2023
Here we go again. Worcester @waitrose today. Empty vegetable shelves. what’s the excuse this time? Heat wave in Spain? No HGV drivers? Management failure? Supply chain disruption? Brexit? #BrokenBritain pic.twitter.com/FJE2g5BU8T
— Nick Baldwin (@iWalknTalk) May 26, 2023
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A spokesperson for Waitrose told The Telegraph: “We apologise to those customers who didn’t get everything they needed. We’ve sent extra deliveries out to branches, and are working hard to get additional stock delivered throughout the day.”
The IT update is thought to have impacted the supermarket’s replenishment, meaning orders were not sent out while some stores.
Waitrose said the issue had now been fixed and the availability of fresh products across most of its stores has improved.
This isn’t the first time the grocer has been hit by product shortages because of IT issues.
Last year, Waitrose had gaps in their stores following a bungled IT integration. Waitrose’s new ERP system had been beset by technical issues, which had led to the wrong quantities of items being recorded in store.
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