Aldi overtakes Morrisons to become fourth biggest supermarket

[dutchman]

More than once recently I've had to buy a premium item at Aldi because the budget version was out-of-stock.

[dutchman]

Odd choice of prototypes!
I'd have thought a Bf109 to match the Spitfire or a Panzer IV to match the Cromwell would be better, similar to what Lidl have done?
Please note these kits are made to special order for Aldi and Lidl. As a result they do not include the 'Flying Miles' that regular Airfix boxes include. Also availability of specific models often varies from those advertised.

[dutchman]

Morrisons shoppers fume at shortages and empty shelves after cyber attack



Morrisons have seen major food shortages across a number of UK supermarket stores after a cyber attack last week.

Shoppers have taken to social media to complain about the lack of fresh produce on display at the supermarket over the last few days. The shortages came after hackers hit a software system Morrisons uses to manage its supply chain last week. The supermarket chain confirmed that this ransomware attack on the third-party company Blue Yonder impacted warehouse supply chains and caused shortages of fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat in its stores.

The spokesperson noted that its ambient and frozen food ranges were unaffected. The spokesperson said: "Last week Blue Yonder suffered an outage which has impacted our warehouse management systems for fresh and produce. Ambient and frozen are unaffected. We are currently operating on our back up systems and we're working very hard to deliver for our customers across the country."

Even though Morrisons says the incident has now been resolved through the use of its back up system, shoppers are seeing the effects in stores. One Morrisons shopper shared an image to X - formerly Twitter - on Monday of empty shelves at the supermarket's Morley store. The post read: "10.30 monday morning 25 November Morley store.... wonder why I decided to go, plenty of other empty shelves."

Another shopper posted pictures of more empty shelves, commenting: "More reasons not to shop at Morrisons Empty shelf after empty shelf at Blaydon Morrisons. Is this the result of particularly poor stock control in this branch or is it systemic Whichever, trying to shop there today was a waste of time and a waste of petrol ..."

A third shopper shared: "Well, i have to say the shelves in my hometown Morrisons yesterday morning were pretty empty... no fresh meat or veg, same again today!!" A fourth shared: "@Morrisons Canterbury is utterly useless. No deli/butcher/fish/hot counters open. No beef joints, no braising steak, most meat shelves empty, majority of veg shelves empty, half the bread range unavailable at the bakery... just dire, especially at only 12 noon!"

It appears the supermarket chain has not informed customers of the incident, as many theories for the reason behind the empty shelves were shared online. One X user suggested Brits were stocking up for Storm Bert while others blamed the shortages on the snow. Others were frustrated at the supermarket chain for not making an official statement about the issue to help customers avoid "wasted journeys".

Morrisons has not confirmed how many stores were impacted; however, posts on social media indicate that the issue was experienced nationwide.

[dutchman]

Cyber attack my arse!

The bread shelves were empty in Holyhead Road, not that anyone was serving anyway.

[dutchman]

Where are all these 'bargains' I keep hearing about at Aldi?

All I can find are premium products, albeit slightly cheaper than the premium products at other supermarkets.

The sausages are good quality/good value but you'd expect that from the Germans.

The steaks are also good value but how often does anyone buy steak?

Most ordinary food is still cheaper at Morrisons.

[dutchman]

Morrisons apologises as deliveries and discounts hit



Morrisons has apologised after customers were unable to redeem discounts on their loyalty cards and had Christmas deliveries cancelled at short notice.

The supermarket offers cheaper prices to More Card members on certain items, and has been heavily discounting Christmas food.

"All our stores have now made the top 100 More Card prices the regular price - including the 10p veg deal, turkeys, spirits and champagne," a Morrisons spokesperson told the BBC.

"In addition we will give More Card customers an extra 10% off their entire shop as an apology," they said.

The 10% discount will apply today and on Tuesday for More Card customers.

Morrisons added some home deliveries may arrive late, and click and collect customers should wait for an email before going to stores.

But customers have told the BBC their online orders - containing their Christmas Day food - have been cancelled altogether.

Morrisons is investigating the cause of the issues in store and online.

Shoppers in Greater Manchester and Leeds have told BBC News that their cards had started to work again. Morrisons has not confirmed if services are restored across the UK yet.

One customer told the BBC she has missed out on her online order, which included a turkey and trifle that was meant to arrive this afternoon.

"I booked it ages ago, when the delivery slots first came out for Christmas," says Moira Redhead, from Northumberland.

She is unable to leave the house due to illness, and is waiting for a medication delivery today.

"I'm really stressed, I don't know what I'm going to do," she says.

"[Morrisons] said they couldn't do anything... they also said their systems were down," she adds, saying that Morrisons offered a £10 goodwill voucher.

Another customer says he missed out on about £20 of discounts.

"I added everything up as I went around the shop and it came to £70, which with all my card discounts and vouchers should have cost me nothing at the checkout," Steve Weatherby, from Huddersfield, told BBC News.

"But it came up as £90. None of the discounts and offers around the store, like 50p off, had been applied.

"So I had to pay it as I was shopping for Christmas lunch and things we needed."

He added: "The staff were getting upset as they weren't aware of what was happening, and it's not their fault."

Social media users say their discounts are not working at the till, with one person posting a photo of an error message, external at the self-checkout, which reads: "We are really sorry some promotions and discounts are not working at this time."

The Morrisons website was also down for a period in the morning, with error messages on some pages suggesting invalid or late responses from servers.

It now appears to be back up and running.

Morrisons had been advertising large discounts ahead of Christmas, including some vegetables for 10p.

"There's never a good time for a tech glitch, but for it to happen on what is expected to be the busiest day of the year is the stuff of nightmares," says retail analyst Natalie Berg.

"This will further erode shopper trust and impact profitability.

"Supermarket margins are razor-thin to begin with and this Christmas has been especially promotional," adds Ms Berg.

"This problem just shows how reliant supermarkets are on their systems to ensure that the millions of shoppers who shop with them have seamless experience," says Catherine Shuttleworth, retail analyst at Savvy Marketing.

"A systems glitch like this couldn't come on a worse day," she adds.

Today is predicted to be the busiest shopping day for supermarkets this year, according to retail analysts Kantar.

Sales at supermarkets are expected to reach over £13bn for the first December ever.

Morrisons is the fifth-largest market supermarket in the UK, according to Kantar, with 8.6% of the grocery market in the 12 weeks leading up to 1 December 2024.

"Retailers are putting more and more deals through their loyalty cards and if shoppers can't access them, they will feel cheated," said Ronan Hegarty, news editor of trade publication The Grocer.

"That it has happened so close to Christmas will leave a bad taste in customers mouths and have them thinking about where to shop next."

[rebbonk]

My Tesco orders are regularly canned.

They have absolutely no understanding of customer service, and in my case, it's cost them a lot in 'goodwill' vouchers. I've tried to contact the man at the top to discuss their appalling service, but he's surrounded himself with imbeciles who fail to understand things from the customers' point of view.

[dutchman]

There were no obvious problems at Morrisons this evening although I couldn't help noticing the supervisor was keeping a closer eye on the checkouts than usual.

Can't believe how little I spent (£25) on a Xmas shop and I didn't skimp on anything.

The only shortage I noticed was luxury toilet rolls.

Aldi was the busiest I've seen it.

[dutchman]

Can't believe how little I spent (£25) on a Xmas shop and I didn't skimp on anything.

They apparently knocked 10% off everything for cardholders in lieu of the paper vouchers they were unable to process.

I wish they'd do that every week as I hate messing around with them.

Some customers were upset though as they'd been saving up their vouchers to use in one go at Xmas.

[rebbonk]

Some customers were upset though as they'd been saving up their vouchers to use in one go at Xmas.

I tend to do that to buy a couple of bottles of spirits. They then tend to last me well into the New Year.