Supermarket giant Coles has lifted all of its product restrictions which were applied to address stockpiling at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. From Tuesday, there will be no restrictions on products such as flour, pasta, rice, toilet paper, liquid soap and hand sanitiser.
Restricitions on rice and flour were lifted last week with limits lifted on antibacterial wipes and liquid soap this week.
In March, Coles imposed buying restrictions on 24 products as Australians stocked up on essentials. Customers were limited to buying only two packets or less per transaction and only one packet of toilet paper.
“We know it’s been a challenging time for many and we hope having no buying restrictions on these every day products will help make life easier for our customers,” a Coles spokesperson said in a statement.
“We would like to thank our customers for their ongoing patience and our team for their incredible work to help us reach a new normal in shopping. We are also grateful to our suppliers and logistics partners who helped restock our shelves and the state and federal governments who helped us to get deliveries to stores as quickly as possible during the height of the crisis.”
Meanwhile, Woolworths has eased product restrictions on toilet paper, rice, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes. The grocery said it has eased limits from one item per store to either two or four products per shop.
Woolies has lifted limits on pasta, frozen vegetables, tissues, baby wipes, baked beans, canned spaghetti, paper towels and disposable gloves.
“We’re pleased to be able to ease more of our product limits. This is a positive sign following weeks of hard work from our teams, customers and significant support from our suppliers in meeting this unprecedented demand,” Woolworths Supermarkets managing director Claire Peters said.
“We are now in a position where our customers will see better product availability across the categories that have been challenged by the increased demand over the past two months. While their favourite brand within the category may not always be on shelf, we are confident an alternative option should be available for the customer to purchase.”
Despite the increase in product supply, Woolies said that it will take time to go back to having a full stock. There will still be some products that have lower stocks but it assured customers it will “continue to adjust operations to this ‘new normal’”.
“We’ll continue to monitor stock levels and customer behaviour, with the desired outcome to eventually remove product limits altogether. That said, we are also mindful that we may reintroduce purchase limits if necessary,” added Woolworths in a statement.
This story originally appeared on sister site Inside FMCG.
