Waitrose faces empty shelves as IT glitch drags on

WAITROSE customers face another weekend of shortages on shelves after a bungled IT upgrade last weekend.

The supermarket admitted yesterday that some branches were still yet to reach normal stock levels.

Shoppers first complained of a lack of goods over the bank holiday weekend. The issue was a result of IT problems that left the business unable to service many of its stores properly.

Waitrose said that while it had fixed the problem that caused disruption last weekend, some stores were still yet to reach normal stock levels.

Consumers were still taking to social media to complain of empty shelves in its stores on Thursday and yesterday.

A Waitrose spokesman said: “We’re really sorry for the disruption that some customers faced. We’ve fixed the cause of the problem, and have regular daily deliveries going to all our branches.”

“Many shops now have good availability, and we’re addressing localised issues as quickly as possible.”

IT issues left Waitrose struggling to order stock at typical volumes from many of its suppliers, it is understood. A source at one supplier said: “We were getting tiny orders, ridiculously small.” The source claimed that lorries were being checked manually, rather than using automated scanning systems as is normal, which left them facing 10-hour delays. “It was mayhem,” they said.

The disruption is understood to have mainly affected deliveries of fruit, vegetables and meats, but suppliers of packaged goods said they were hit too.

The boss of one food company said: “We’re told that it was an upgrade, and somebody pressed the wrong button.”