UK supermarkets gear up for a Covid Christmas and Brexit   

Shoppers will spend £2bn more in supermarkets in the quarter to December 26, with some 5m people who normally travel abroad for Christmas staying in the country

Sainsbury's, one of the big four supermarkets, along with Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons, while will be wrestling with a jump in demand amid social distancing requirements.

For supermarkets in the UK, Christmas 2020 will be like no other, with the challenge of unprecedented demand due to the Covid crisis followed by the risk of disruption to supplies at the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.

Queues are already forming outside UK supermarkets at peak times and shoppers should expect them to lengthen in the run-up to Christmas as the big four players — market leader Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons — and their smaller rivals wrestle with meeting a jump in demand while adhering to social distancing requirements.

Then, from January, shoppers face the prospect of gaps on shelves if supply lines from the EU are disrupted.

Market researcher Nielsen forecasts UK shoppers will spend £2bn (€2.2bn) more in supermarkets in the quarter to December 26 than in the same period last year, or a total of £33bn. 

Some analysts believe that could prove a conservative estimate.

The added dimension of Brexit adds to the operational difficulties UK supermarket groups are facing.

Supermarkets also have more mouths to feed — with many of the 5m or so people in the UK who normally travel abroad for Christmas staying in the UK, and the early return of university students to the family home.

Supermarkets are asking customers to shop for seasonal products early to spread volume out, encouraging them to use handheld devices that bypass checkouts and extending trading hours. 

They are also lobbying the UK government to relax strict Sunday trading laws and allow all-night deliveries. 

• Reuters