Shoppers will no longer need to queue to get into branches of Asda or Sainsbury’s.

Queues to get into supermarkets have become a common site in the coronavirus pandemic as rules mean shops have to limit the number of people inside, ensure customers are wearing masks and offer hand sanitising at the door.

But now both Sainsbury’s and Asda are using virtual queues, via apps on your phone, so you don’t have to stand outside.

This is especially important as winter draws on, with the weather getting colder and wetter by the day.

And queues could be bigger in the weeks ahead as people stock up for Christmas.

55 Sainsbury’s stores will now use the queuing app, reports The Mirror, allowing customers to virtually add themselves to the queue of their local shop.

Shoppers get a notification when they are at the front of the line, meaning they can turn up and head straight in.

Customers without a smartphone can ask a member of staff to be added to the virtual queue, and will be alerted when it’s their turn.

The app, which is provided by Ufirst, was piloted in July and is now being tried in more stores.

Asda is now running a similar app in around 50 of its stores. Its system was trialed in the Middleton branch in Leeds in May, according to The Grocer.

The budget supermarket’s virtual queue is run by Qudini, which allows customers to log on using an app, scanning a QR code or sending a text.

The QR code shows a countdown to let shoppers know where in the queue they are, while the text system sends an alert when it is their turn.

Similar technology is being used in three John Lewis stores.

M&S’s version allows customers to book a 30-minute slot to shop at one of 566 standalone Food Halls and branches.