Sainsbury’s and Tesco have made some big changes to their in-store and online shopping rules.

The supermarket giants have implemented another shake-up as lockdown eases in an attempt to end the long queues.

They want to help improve the experience for shoppers and either visiting stores or shopping online.

Changes follow updates to guidance on the two-metre social distancing rule as the Government considers making masks mandatory in all shops.

Take a look at the changes being implemented in Sainsbury’s and Tesco below.

Sainsbury’s rule changes

In-store fresh food counters have reopened at Sainsbury’s meaning shoppers can now get an experience much closer to pre-pandemic trips.

The changes include extended opening hours which should reduce or remove queues at all but the busiest times.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said restrictions on multiple purchases of the same item have now been lifted.

He said: “We have kept this under review as availability of key items has improved and I am pleased to tell you that we have now lifted buying restrictions on all products.

“The only exception to this is painkillers which are legally restricted to two packets per person.”

Sainsbury’s latest rules are as follows:

• To reduce queuing times both inside and outside our stores we have extended many of our stores opening hours.
• Customers are now welcome to shop with us at any time during store opening hours, however NHS and care workers will still have priority entry from 7:30am to 8am Monday to Saturday and elderly, vulnerable and disabled customers will still have priority entry from 8am to 9am Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
• We have launched a Volunteer Shopping Card to enable people to shop for others easily in store.
• We have also rolled out new customer sanitiser stations in our supermarkets so that customers can sanitise their hands, baskets and trollies at the front of our stores. This is in addition to our colleagues regularly sanitising all of our baskets and trollies before use.
• We have installed perspex safety screens in our petrol filling station stores and have extended our opening hours in many Convenience stores to 10pm or 11pm. You can check the latest opening hours in your area before shopping.

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Mr Roberts says food counters had been closed at the start of the pandemic but pizza counters have now reoepened in some stores.

Some ready-made hot food self-service stands in convenience stores have also reopened.

There are also changes to online orders.

Mr Roberts said: “More customers than ever are choosing to use our home delivery and click and collect services when they shop with us.

“To help more people get access to these services we have been working hard to increase the number of our home delivery and click and collect slots available.

“We have now nearly doubled this service to over 650,000 orders per week and as a result, more of our existing customers now have access to slots.

Tesco rule changes

Tesco will allow more people inside its branches as the new one-metre social distancing rule comes into force.

The number of customers allowed inside stores has now increased and one-way systems have been scrapped.

It says these moves will reduce the need to queue outside.

The supermarket said it will still monitor how many customers visit, but some branches will now increase in their entry limits.

This, it said, would be at the manager’s discretion and subject to each store’s size.

Despite its one-way systems being removed, the supermarket will still ask customers to stay two metres apart.

Stores will still have floor markings in place to remind shoppers to social distance.

The government has recently slashed the social distancing rule, so that people must now stand at least one metre apart – although some businesses are still sticking to two metres.

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In addition, Tesco has also increased its 80-item limit to 95 items as stock levels return to normal.

The grocer still has a three-per-person limit on face coverings, antibacterial handwash, antibacterial wipes, flour, and eggs.

Elderly and vulnerable shoppers still also get priority access on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9am until 10am.