Ahold Delhaize IT outage: empty shelves at Albert Heijn, limited e-commerce at Delhaize

The effects of the cyber incident at Ahold Delhaize are still being felt on Tuesday. At Albert Heijn, the online store is down and there is a risk of empty shelves; at Delhaize, stores are receiving deliveries and e-commerce is operating on a limited basis.

Great uncertainty

The IT problems are not yet resolved after Ahold Delhaize shut down part of its systems as a precautionary measure on Sunday afternoon due to what the company rather vaguely refers to as a “cybersecurity incident” or a “large-scale IT outage.” Albert Heijn appears to be the hardest hit. The supermarket chain has taken its websites, apps, and in-store customer service systems offline. As a result, customers cannot place orders, and previously placed orders are not being delivered. The impact is also being felt in the stores—all of which remain open. Several distribution centers are shut down, leaving stores with empty shelves in both the Netherlands and Belgium. The point-of-sale systems are working, but personalized app offers are not available, and electronic price tags are displaying old prices.

At Delhaize, store managers are currently unable to place orders, but stores are still being restocked based on previous orders. “There may be the occasional missing item here and there, but normally our store shelves are well-stocked,”says spokesperson Roel Dekelver in Het Nieuwsblad. RetailDetail learned yesterday that Delhaize has also given store owners permission to source supplies from external suppliers due to the emergency. Online ordering is once again available at Delhaize. To be on the safe side, the retailer is still limiting the number of available delivery slots. Customer service is currently unavailable.

Meanwhile, the cause of the problems remains largely unclear. Although there are many indications that it may have been a hack, the company is referring to it as an “incident.” There is also no clarity on whether customer data has been leaked. This is causing uncertainty and a potential crisis of confidence among customers. In an article in the AD, several experts criticize Ahold Delhaize’s communication (or lack thereof).