A MAJOR SUPERMARKET chain has employed 12 snow ploughs to try and clear the way for customers to enter their stores.

Tesco Ireland spokesman Seamus Banim told TheJournal.ie that employees of the company had been trained to use the ploughs and they had been deployed to clear car parks and entrances around stores nationwide this week.

The snowplough solution was employed to facilitate customers who visit supermarkets in person. Although the demand for home deliveries by both Tesco and Irish chain Superquinn have increased hugely in this week’s Arctic weather conditions, the weather conditions and the hike in requests has meant that there are delays in deliveries in some areas.

Mr Banim confirmed that Tesco had experienced a 70 per cent hike in requests for home deliveries through their website, compared to the same week last year.

Superquinn could not put an exact figure on the percentage increase of home deliveries but said that “many people who don’t usually shop online have been calling to enquire about having groceries delivered to them”.

Superquinn also said that the cold weather had seen an increase in sales in certain items this week, compared to last week:

Soups are up over 25 per cent; hot drinks are up over 7 per cent; fire products are up over 36 per cent; home-cooking ingredients, sauces and meal ‘solutions’ are up by 10 per cent, and batteries sales are up by 40 per cent.

Regarding home deliveries, a spokesperson for Superquinn said that up until today they have managed to make all deliveries, although they note that “as the weather conditions deteriorated today there have been some areas that have been extremely difficult for our delivery team to reach”. They say that “only a handful of orders” have had to be cancelled.

Seamus Banim of Tesco says that the number of home deliveries ordered peaked on Tuesday and yesterday but that most deliveries were getting through.

The bottom line is that there are only a finite amount of slots we have and we are trying to get those out.

He said that some stores in the midlands and east, hit worst by the icy conditions, have experienced a backlog in delivery orders and that some evening deliveries have been “curtailed” because of dangerous driving conditions.