Saturday was a write off for many Sainsbury’s branches. Thanks to a “technical issue” there were no contactless payments in store, and online deliveries were left in limbo. For a while, the supermarket couldn’t even contact customers to tell them the bad news that their “Good food for all of us” promise applied only to those carrying cash.
There were plenty of theories about what had happened to Sainsbury’s tech system (and the size of the financial reserves it may or may not keep to deal with regular ransom demands from cyber hackers), but it seems that the whole sorry incident was a cock-up rather than a conspiracy.
One weekend might not turn the nation’s shopping habits around, but it never pays to upset your customers.
Sainsbury’s did get some things right, however. At least an email from CEO Simon Roberts didn’t try and put the blame on anyone else, and promised a “sorry” voucher for people whose deliveries didn’t turn up. Hope it’s generous.
Tesco had to cancel some deliveries for similar reasons and it’s almost comforting to know that, when the UK’s two biggest supermarkets simultaneously experience major tech fails, the world doesn’t grind to a halt. In fact, the nation managed just fine – and the #KeepItCash lobby were having a field day.
