From Christmas trees to sportswear, product shortages continue to frustrate consumers across the country amid ongoing labor shortages, supply chain snarls, congestion at shipping ports and extreme weather conditions.
And just in time for the holidays, Christmas Trees are being hit hard by these supply chain shortages due to wildfires, heat waves and drought periods impacting the supply of real trees and supply chain challenges impacting the supply of artificial ones.
Some large sellers of artificial trees say they are increasing their prices by double-digit percentages and are blaming unduly high shipping costs tied to the ongoing global supply chain mess.
Here is one piece of advice, find and buy your Christmas tree early!
Due to nationwide supply chain issues, some of your favorite items may be temporarily unavailable.
Coffee giant Starbucks said it is also seeing localized shortages of certain items AND Grocers are even struggling to meet the food demand for pets.
Adding to the struggle for product availability is a shortage of truck drivers, which means restaurants across the country have had to switch up their menus, swapping out items like baby back ribs for spare ribs in order to keep customers' plates full.
Either there's a Covid outbreak in a factory, a shipping constraint, or a domestic transportation capacity constraint, so it's constantly a story of two steps forward, one step back.
Costco told investors that the wholesaler is capping purchases on toilet paper, paper towels and water after seeing an uptick in demand due to the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus. and appliances and electronics have been impacted by the global semiconductor chip shortage.
Target has felt the pressure of trying to keep shelves stocked and announced its stores will be closed all day on Thanksgiving Day in order to minimize crowds and is just one example of how Target’s evolving strategy is meeting the needs of today’s business world and consumers.
The company’s revenues grew a strong 9.5% year-over-year (y-o-y) to $25.2 billion
While digital sales contributed to these gains, rising customer traffic was the biggest factor as it handled 13% more transactions in this quarter than it did a year ago
Despite higher marketing and wage expenses, Target is seeing no sign of a demand slowdown as consumers are still eagerly spending in attractive categories like apparel, toys, and home furnishings - despite the pullback of some stimulus measures. The company is doing an excellent job adjusting to changes in consumer preferences with its drive-up, pickup in-store, and same-day delivery via Shipt services.
Target (NYSE:TGT), stock price is hovering at around $241 a share and that is up $88 from a year ago, nearly 60% growth.
Expect this trend to continue with higher prices and a shift in demand toward premium products driving shopper spending.
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