I did my Woolworths online delivery order as usual yesterday. But when I went to choose my delivery slot, I was shocked. All the times were completely booked out for the next day. This NEVER happens, well except for maybe Christmas or Easter. It looks like panic buying has most definitely set in.
With the world on high alert about the rapid spread of Coronavirus, it looks like people are starting to stress and resort to stock piling grocery essentials, in case they quarantined in their home.
Supermarkets across the globe have been reporting consumers tipping over into panic buying mode as images of empty shelves are popping up on social media.
Popular Panic Buying Items
The most popular items on the hoarding list appears to be toilet paper (tops the charts at THE number 1 essential), cans of food, pasta, bottled water and other grocery staples.
In Sydney’s Bondi, Woolworths shelves were stripped of paracetamol, toilet paper, tea, milk, pasta, oats and rice crackers.
A Coles supermarket in Claremont in Perth showed empty shelves throughout the store. And in Adelaide, there were massive huge queues in Costco, as customers bulk bought toilet paper and other essentials.
Chemists are running out of hand sanitiser and ant-bacterial wipes
The panic buying was likely to be triggered by Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing the federal government would be launching an emergency response plan to deal with the virus, and warned ‘the risk of a global pandemic is upon us’.
The panic buying has set in throughout the world where pictures of frenzied shoppers were shown inside a Mexican Costco store. In a store in Japan, pics show the entire toilet paper roll aisle being decimated.
Shelves emptying in this north shore #sydney supermarket. Rice, flour and toilet paper first to go. Staff say people stockpiling. “We can’t keep up with it.”#coronavirus @australian pic.twitter.com/raPsMT0N7a
— Christine Middap (@ChristineMiddap) February 29, 2020
NZ panic buying #coronavirusnz = no bread ???? Only #glutenfree bread & pasta left on shelves pic.twitter.com/9iZRsauPwB
— Dr Marewa Glover (@MarewaGlover) February 29, 2020
Stock Shortages Won’t Last
A Woolworths spokesperson spoke to Yahoo News Australia, saying there had been a recent notable rise in demand for pantry staples.
“We’ve seen an increase in demand for long-life pantry items and household staples in recent days, which has led to partial stock shortages across some of our stores,” the spokesperson said.
“Our teams have been working hard to replenish these products as quickly as possible. We have good stock levels to draw on in our distribution centres and will continue working closely with our suppliers to maintain supply.
“We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience.”
Have you been tempted to go into panic buying mode? What are you stockpiling, if anything? Tell us in the comments below.
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