Supermarkets are gearing up for a boom in online grocery sales, adding hundreds of extra delivery vans to satisfy increased demand over the festive period.

The move comes after many retailers were forced to stop taking orders in the week before Christmas last year, as they could not guarantee deliveries.

According to the Financial Times, Waitrose’s online delivery partner Ocado is resourced to cope with 25 per cent more sales in the Christmas week than it has ever done before and is employing an extra hundred people a week to keep up with demand.

Tesco is increasing its number of delivery “slots” by 50 per cent and adding 300 more vans to its delivery fleet. This will also support Tesco Direct, its non-food online shopping and delivery service, in its first Christmas.

Sainsbury’s is also offering a significant amount of extra deliveries to cover demand.

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