Language
Country/Area
No result found
Global supply chain chaos! How does COVID-19 change our shopping habits?
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic at the end of 2020, the global supply chain has been severely damaged, not only causing shortages of goods, but also significantly changing consumers' shopping habits. As the impact of the epidemic continues, especially in 2021, freight and economic activities in various countries have been greatly hindered. To this day, this crisis still affects our daily lives.
Supply chains around the world have been slow to recover, and the epidemic, uneven vaccination, and geopolitical conflicts have become major factors affecting the economy.
The importance of supply chain
The supply chain operates like a precision machine, and the failure of any one component will lead to the failure of the overall function. Since the beginning of the epidemic, factories in many countries have been forced to shut down, causing disruptions in the supply of raw materials. With the rebound in consumer demand, especially the surge in demand for electronic products and automobiles, the supply chains of these industries are facing unprecedented challenges.
Uneven vaccinations leave workers in many developing countries still at high risk, further contributing to lost productivity.
Challenges in transportation
With ports stranded and container ships backlogged, there have been massive delays in the flow of global freight. Particularly in the United States, the surge in imports has exceeded the capacity of ports and transportation systems, causing extremely long wait times and leaving many container ships stranded outside ports for weeks.
Many large U.S. retailers have chartered container ships in advance for the holiday season, but even so have struggled to cope with rising demand.
Changes in consumer behavior
Faced with product shortages, consumers’ shopping habits have changed significantly. Many people began to turn to online shopping, but what followed was countless out-of-stock notifications. According to a report by Adobe Digital Insights, in October 2021, online shoppers faced more than 2 billion out-of-stock messages. This is 2020 Twice that of the same period.
In the United States, there are shortages of nearly every product, including electronics, accessories, clothing, and daily necessities.
Future Outlook
Experts predict that recovery from supply chain problems may take longer, especially with the impact of semiconductor shortages that will affect many industries. CEOs of automakers and electronics manufacturers expect shortages to continue into the first half of 2022.
Experts in the U.S. business community believe that it is very impossible to return to the supply chain situation before the epidemic.
Conclusion
Faced with the current challenges of global supply chain chaos, many companies have begun to explore the possibility of diversifying supply sources. The pandemic has not only tested the resilience of the global economy, it has also changed our shopping habits. How will consumers respond to these changes in the future?
