Tesco suffered another blow this week as its non-food website buckled under the volume of Christmas orders.

The retailer has introduced a temporary halt to its “next day” service on Tesco Direct and issued a warning to customers that it will take them nearly three days to collect their orders.

“We are really sorry, but due to unprecedented demand we are currently unable to provide next day Click & Collect,” Tesco has posted on the site.

“We are doing our very best to provide you with the best possible service, but Click & Collect orders will be delayed by two days.

“For example, if you order on Monday before 5pm, it will not be available for collection before 3pm on Thursday.”

The move comes just days after Tesco suffered from website problems on its Tesco Direct site as customers sought to take advantage of online bargains advertised as part of its Black Friday promotions.

Tesco said the move would not impact on the deliveries of third party sellers advertised on its online marketplace.

It added that the problems with the service were caused by the huge popularity of its Black Friday offer.

“For our Black Friday event this year it was the first time that we have included a Click & Collect offer at over 2,600 stores,” said a spokeswoman.

“Our event saw sales 700% higher than Black Friday last year and the Click & Collect option has proved extremely popular as a method of delivery for customers.

To ensure that we do not fail to deliver on our customer expectations we are currently alerting customers to the fact that their deliveries may not meet our usual time scales. This is a temporary measure.”

Tesco added that its problems on Black Friday had been a “small technical issue in the early hours”.

“Tesco Direct was fully functional throughout Black Friday, although some customers experienced a slower than usual service due to the significant interest,” she explain.

This article was ammended on 4 December to include a response from Tesco

 

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