Labor Shortage and supply chain issues bring more stress to holiday shopping season

As the holiday season begins, consumers are having trouble finding popular items in-store due to supply issues. Photo from Pexels.com by Artem Beliaikin

As the nation enters peak holiday shopping season, consumers are encountering a complicating combination of problems: empty shelves, rising prices and widespread shipping delays. Issues in the global supply chain, coupled with a mounting labor shortage, have introduced new challenges to holiday shopping.

Stores are historically short-staffed amid a nationwide labor shortage that is impacting shipping times and product availability. Furthermore, retailers are having difficulty sourcing materials, thus making many products hard to find. 

In recent weeks, top toymakers have said their products will be both more expensive and harder to find in the coming months due to the ongoing crisis. The CEO of MGA Entertainment Isaac Larian, which owns and distributes Little Tikes, Rainbow High dolls, Bratz dolls and LOL Surprise!, said that there is “going to be a major shortage of toy products this year.” He added, "the demand is going to be there. What is not going to be there is the product to fill the demand."

Within the last year, retail workers have been leaving the workforce at an exponential rate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 4.4% of retail workers quit their job in September. It is not just the retail industry that has a problem keeping employees. While there's an abundance of open jobs in the United States, there is a lack of returning workers to fill positions, across all industries. A shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers has specifically impacted shipping times. 

“There’s a shortage of shipping containers. There’s a shortage of space available on ships. There are challenges when the ships arrive," said Jon Gold, vice president of the National Retail Federation.

"There’s a driver shortage. There are issues and problems at every step of the way,” Gold added. “Demand for goods and materials is far outpacing the system’s ability to supply them, so there’s a logjam.”

For shoppers who have become accustomed to ordering online, they are less satisfied by Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals than in years past. Lack of inventory and a shortage of retail employees has caused many shoppers to choose in-store pick up as a better alternative. Even  those who order items well in advance have expressed issues with delayed orders, this being due to the fallback on goods being traded back in 2020. Many goods and services were not sent the materials they needed to manufacture their products, making it harder for companies to ship orders out on time.  

For those looking to score specific popular items this holiday season, they should be prepared to potentially experience delays. One of the industries hardest hit by shortages is the home improvement industry. With more people forced to stay home over the course of the pandemic, consumers have focused their spending on their homes. Appliance companies for both small and large products are struggling with the ability to find parts for their products. Items like fridges, air fryers and vacuums are now a hot commodity. Parts shortages, coupled with increased demand, has made it difficult for both consumers, manufacturers and retailers.  

Despite widespread product shortages and delays, America’s big-box retailers, Target and Walmart, have said they are well-stocked for the holiday season. Target in mid-November reported that it had 17.7% more in inventory in its fiscal third quarter than a year prior. Walmart also reported its U.S. business had 11.5% in stock in its comparable period. This announcement comes as Target and Walmart, as well as Costco, have chartered their own ships to deliver goods from Asia to prevent shortages during the holiday season.

Though America’s largest corporations have found ways to slightly overcome complications caused by the global supply chain crisis, small businesses have been particularly hard-hit. According to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that lobbies for small businesses, more than 35% of small business owners reported in September that supply chain disruptions had a significant impact on their business ahead of the holiday shopping season. Around 32% reported a moderate impact.

To circumvent product shortages and rising prices, consumers were encouraged to start their shopping early and shop locally.