2021 archive: This article describes supermarket arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are not current shopping instructions; check individual stores for their present opening and access arrangements.

In January 2021, supermarkets used a mixture of priority access, distancing measures and limits on the number of customers in stores. The original Explore Buxton report described conditions at local branches. National policies could differ from one store to another.

Contactless card payments had a £45 limit in early 2021, after the limit increased from £30 in April 2020. The national rollout of a £100 limit began in October 2021. See UK Finance for the later change.

Priority shopping: January 2021

As of 7 January 2021, Which? listed the following national arrangements, noting that individual stores could differ:

  • Aldi: older and vulnerable customers could enter 30 minutes before opening Monday to Saturday; NHS and emergency workers received queue priority and early Sunday access.
  • Asda, M&S and Iceland: the list recorded no specific priority hours for these groups.
  • Morrisons: the list gave NHS priority hours of 6–7am Monday to Saturday and 9–9:30am Sunday. The original Explore Buxton report described an NHS hour apart from Sunday; the national list also included a Sunday slot.
  • Sainsbury’s: older and vulnerable customers and key workers could go to the front of the queue, with no separate priority hours listed.
  • Tesco: NHS and emergency workers could use queue priority, and the national list gave 9–10am on Wednesday and Sunday for older and vulnerable shoppers, with Sunday browsing only. The original report said the Buxton Express store was not included in those priority hours.
  • Waitrose: older and vulnerable customers, NHS staff and social-care workers had priority access.

Face coverings

At the time, England required face coverings in shops subject to exemptions. The original report incorrectly said that Morrisons shoppers needed to provide proof of a medical exemption. Government guidance stated that an exemption card was not required by law; the contemporary fact check explains the position in January 2021. The National Autistic Society later reported that supermarkets said exempt customers did not need to provide proof.