Delhaize lets customers order online again; Albert Heijn not yet
Recovery following the IT incident is progressing at different speeds at the two supermarket chains.
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Customers of the Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize have been able to order groceries online again since Saturday. At Albert Heijn, new orders remain unavailable and deliveries up to and including Tuesday 20 October have been cancelled.
Spokesperson Roel Dekelver confirmed Delhaize's resumption of service to news agency Belga on Saturday, The Brussels Times reports. Both the Delivery service and the Collect collection service are operating again, as the supermarket chain's own information page also shows. Customers can therefore once again order their groceries digitally for delivery or collection. However, the recovery does not mean that all digital services are functioning normally again.
At Albert Heijn, the disruption is lasting longer. A spokeswoman confirmed to ANP on Saturday morning that the chain would not deliver groceries ordered online up to and including Tuesday and was not yet accepting new orders. The company aims to resume home deliveries in the second half of next week. That is a target: Albert Heijn has not committed to a firm restart date in the update consulted.
Both chains are part of Ahold Delhaize and have been affected by an IT incident since Sunday 11 October. The group shut down websites, apps and other systems as a precaution. Shops remained open, but the disruption also affected the processes used to order and deliver groceries. The latest reports concern the restoration of those services, almost a week after the problems began.
Delhaize is also taking steps behind the scenes. According to Belga's reporting, affiliated supermarkets have been able to submit their own orders again since Friday. They are temporarily using an older system for this; the usual ordering system is not yet available. Earlier this week, supplies were based on ordering patterns from previous weeks and months. Shops being able to submit their own orders again is therefore a separate step alongside the reopening of the online shop.
Some restrictions remain for Delhaize customers. The chain warns that text messages and emails may still be disrupted and directs customers to its website or app to check their order status. The e-Deals are also temporarily unavailable. Existing SuperPlus benefits remain usable, according to the company, but customers cannot take out new SuperPlus Families and SuperPlus Delivery subscriptions for the time being. The reopening of the ordering channel is therefore separate from the restoration of all associated functions.
Albert Heijn, meanwhile, reports that its shops are once again being fully restocked several times a day. The company says it will compensate customers who have already paid for a cancelled order once the systems are working again. For households relying on deliveries, the practical restriction therefore remains for now, even though supplies to physical shops have been restored, according to the chain.
No definitive explanation of the cause and scale of the incident is yet available. Both Albert Heijn and Delhaize say they currently have no indication that personal data is involved, while the investigation continues. This does not definitively rule out a data breach. The confirmed progress mainly concerns ordering and restocking; the companies have not yet given a completion date for full technical recovery or the findings of the investigation.
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The new development on 17 October is confirmed by news agency reporting and Delhaize's own service information. Statements about recovery, personal data and scheduling are attributed to the companies and are not presented as independent technical findings.
- confirmed Delhaize resumed its online ordering service on Saturday 17 October. — Belga reports the resumption on Saturday; spokesperson Roel Dekelver confirms it. source
- confirmed Delhaize Delivery and Delhaize Collect are operational again. — Both services are explicitly mentioned on the current information page. source
- confirmed Albert Heijn is not accepting new online orders and is not delivering up to and including Tuesday 20 October. — The company update of 16 October specifies the date; ANP reports confirmation on Saturday morning. source
- confirmed Albert Heijn aims to resume service in the second half of the following week. — The company update describes this as an effort, rather than a guaranteed restart date. source
- confirmed Both chains are part of Ahold Delhaize; systems were shut down as a precaution following the incident. — ANP describes the chains' relationship to the group and the precautionary shutdown. source
- confirmed The incident began on Sunday 11 October and shops remained open. — The company information states the start date and that shops remained open. source
- confirmed Delhaize shops have been ordering through an older system since Friday; previously, deliveries were based on historical ordering patterns. — These operational steps are described in The Brussels Times' reporting with Belga. source
- confirmed At Delhaize, order messages may be disrupted, e-Deals are unavailable and new Families and Delivery subscriptions are temporarily unavailable. — The services page describes these separate restrictions and the retention of existing benefits. source
- confirmed Albert Heijn reports full restocking of shops and compensation for prepaid cancelled orders once systems are working. — Both statements appear in the update of 16 October and are attributed to the company in the text. source
- confirmed Albert Heijn reports no indication that personal data is involved, but the investigation is ongoing. — The source supports only this provisional company statement, not a definitive exclusion of a data breach. source
- confirmed Delhaize also reports no indication that customer or employee data is involved while the investigation continues. — This is explicitly stated in the answer about personal data. source
Editor's note
The resumption on Saturday is confirmed by current news agency reporting and Delhaize's services page. The technical cause, any involvement of personal data and a firm restart date at Albert Heijn have not yet been established; company statements have been attributed as such.Sources
- Mediastatement inzake cybersecurity incident — Albert Heijn
- IT-incident bij Delhaize: status van de diensten en veelgestelde vragen — Delhaize
- Delhaize resumes online orders after cyberattack — The Brussels Times / Belga
- Online boodschappen bestellen bij Belgisch Delhaize weer mogelijk — ANP / Welingelichte Kringen
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „delhaize albert heijn”
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