The shops only accepting card as they reopen including Next and Ikea

MAJOR retailers including Next, Ikea and Urban Outfitters have stopped accepting cash payments as part of new coronavirus social distancing measures. 

The shops are among the shops only accepting cashless payments as they open their doors to customers for the first time since Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all “non-essential” shops to close at the end of March.

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Many retailers have stopped accepting cash to help stop the spread of coronavirus [/caption]

EE, O2 and Vodafone have also said all stores will now move to contactless payments only and only use chip and pin where necessary, with no cash being exchanged on the premises.

About three-quarters of adults in Britain have used less cash since the start of the pandemic, a recent YouGov study found.

And while other stores will accept cash payments, many are asking shoppers to use contactless where possible.

H&M has said it will be limiting the number of tills taking cash to just one per floor in a bid to encourage customers to use contactless payments where possible.

Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, is reopening all of its stores in England and a select few in Northern Ireland today. 

They have asked customers to use contactless where possible, and have upped the maximum spend to £45 – but will be taking cash if necessary.

John Lewis has opened just two of its stores, in Kingston upon Thames and Poole, and has asked shoppers to use contactless where possible.

A further 11 stores will open on Thursday as the company eases out of lockdown across the country.

M&S is also reopening 230 of its clothes departments today and has encouraged customers to pay contactless where possible by upping the limit to £45 per purchase.

Inditex – which owns Mango, Massimo Dutti and Zara – are also encouraging customers to pay contactless where possible.

Gareth Shaw, Head of Money at Which?, said: “While it’s encouraging that more people are able to turn to digital payment methods during the Coronavirus crisis, banks and businesses must not neglect those who have no choice but to rely on cash to pay for essential products and services, particularly as many are vulnerable consumers.”

Long queues formed outside stores like Primark and Sports Direct as hundreds of shoppers turned up today.

At its flagship store in Birmingham, Primark customers were seen queuing overnight to be front of the queue, forcing the store to open early to cope with demand.

The shop was due to open at 8am but ended up letting shoppers in 35 minutes early at 7.25am, according to Birmingham Live, who reported how one superfan queued from 4.30am to be first inside.