Thorntons is struggling with Easter demand - here's where else you can buy their eggs online

Thorntons shoppers have been left unable to buy Easter eggs online for days, as the chocolatier website closes intermittently due to a daily order limit. 

The British chocolate producer and retailer is closing its website daily, once a daily quota on new orders has been reached.

This comes after Cadbury shoppers were placed in a digital queue when trying to buy Easter eggs on its website. 

While shoppers can access the Thorntons site every day at 9am (the time the web store is opened for orders) some customers have been struggling to purchase their desired goods before the e-commerce site shuts abruptly, due to an usually high influx of customer orders.

What has caused the issue?

The sudden influx of orders is due to the lockdown measures in place in the UK, which only allow citizens to leave their houses for specific purposes. While one of these exceptions is grocery shopping, many have turned to internet shopping as a less risky way of purchasing non-essential goods.

Additionally, Thorntons closed all of its 100 UK stores in response to the pandemic, giving its customers no choice but to purchase their treats online. 

What are customers saying?

Taking to social media to voice their complaints, site users claim the online store usually closes within a mere hour of opening.

Others have said the site could not be accessed, even at the opening time of 9am.  

Taking to Twitter one customer tweeted, "I was there at 9am this morning, you wasn't. Fingers crossed for tomorrow."

Another complained she couldn't access the site for several days, "Shop at Thorntons every year for my Easter eggs. Can't even get on their website to order. Tried four days in a row."

What has been Thorntons’ response?

Since the complaints have aired on social media, Thorntons is addressing the situation with the following message online, "Due to high demand, we have temporarily paused taking new orders today.

"We hope you understand and please re-visit at 9am tomorrow when we will be back online taking orders on our full range." it reads.

Speaking with The Sun, a spokesperson from Thorntons said, “Demand is four times higher than average, this morning we took 8,000 orders in the first hour of opening.

“We are also taking extra precautions to keep our colleagues safe in this current environment - this includes paring back staffing levels to ensure social distancing is observed, and therefore we have temporarily reduced the number of orders we are taking daily.

“We hope our customers understand and would like to thank them for their continued support, as we remain focused on managing at best the constant evolution of this unexpected situation.”

Where else can I buy Thorntons Easter Eggs?

The good news is you can purchase Thorntons goods at other supermarket outlets during your food shop, or on their websites. 

Sainsbury’s is currently selling a Thorntons Unicorn Egg, as well as a Thorntons Milk Chocolate Bunny and a Thorntons Classic Milk Dark White Chocolate Egg at a discounted price on its online store.

While Tesco is selling a range of classic treats from the chocolate-maker’s easter collection, such as Thorntons Easter Egg Collection and a Classic Collection Egg, as well as a speciality Chocolate Dinosaur Egg.