Weather stops Scottish Tesco customers from shopping online

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - 09:49 by Simon Crisp

The dire weather and frozen UK travel network has caused issues for customers in Scotland who want to enjoy safe shopping online with supermarket giant Tesco.

Tesco has suspended its online outlet and is taking no orders, because it has been unable to deliver goods to many thousands of people. It is not the only supermarket to stifle its online shopping service in Scotland, as Sainsbury's has taken the same action, as has delivery firm Parcel Force.

Many days of snow and icy roads, which left many stranded away from home in Scotland, have conspired to make safe shopping online with some of the nation's biggest retailers impossible for consumers north of the border.

Tesco has said that it is still going to deliver products to anyone who actually ordered them before the site was locked down.

Big name e-commerce firms including Amazon have been struck with similar issues, as the postal network has been compromised by poor weather conditions, making first class next day delivery impossible to assure around the UK.

Some delivery firms have built up a backlog of orders tracing back over two weeks, according to reports on the BBC News website. Sainsbury's customers in Scotland and some areas in the north of England are also affected by an order blackout.

Despite the weather, the use of online shopping by UK consumers has been particularly strong, with many suggesting that people have actually stayed indoors and kept away from the high street so that they can buy gifts on the internet with their feet up and a mince pie in hand.

The weather is expected to worsen later in the week, which means there could be more travel and delivery chaos. Those ordering online might have to get their requests in quickly before another blanket of snow swaddles the UK.