Are you going to go shopping for Christmas in advance? If not, you should probably be aware, especially if you are counting on electronics. The crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic is not over and vendors are reporting again massive shortage of goods. Chips are a problem, but there is also a lack of metal or wooden materials, which are quite often part of especially more expensive, premium product models.
🔥 Watch the news from China Planet na Facebook aj Instagram.
In today's article, we will present the current situation and also a view directly from the environment of one of the local sellers, which operates on the Czech and Slovak market.
Massive shortage of goods at retailers
The problem of the long waiting time for the delivery of goods is mainly the logistics of goods and the associated high increase in shipping and air transport prices. "There has been a large increase in maritime transport prices, in some cases up to ten times. This, of course, significantly increases the prices of goods and in some cases causes suppliers to choose not to bring them. " she explained Pavla Hobíková, spokesperson for the MALL group. "A partial improvement in accessibility will occur in 2022, and in some categories even a year later."
Your local retailer advises customers not to keep their purchases until the last minute. It is possible that the goods will simply no longer be available. Nevertheless, the sellers make every effort to ensure that the individual products are delivered and, in particular, that the end customer does not experience an increase in transport costs at the final selling price.
"Of course, we order an assortment with generally low availability, despite the rising price, and we do everything we can to get the goods to us as cheaply as possible and our prices are still attractive to customers." said a spokeswoman for MALL "We definitely recommend customers to start Christmas shopping as soon as possible, because part of the range will be more limited this year."
A more expensive Christmas awaits us: Metal or glass are also missing
According to an analysis by Jana Glasová from 365th Bank, we can prepare for more expensive Christmas holidays. In the first place, this will cause a shortage of chips, which will ultimately cause production downtime in the automotive and electrical industries. Another problem is the lack of plastic granulate, which is important, among other things, in construction.
However, the problem also persists with the lack of steel, aluminum, sheets, metals, wood or glass, ie materials that are often part of electronic gadgets, smartphones or laptops and other products. For these selected products, we must also expect an increase in price or a longer delivery time.
"Producers are currently facing rising costs due to higher production inputs, but also due to rising oil, petrol and energy prices. It is difficult to estimate the extent to which rising producer prices will also be reflected in higher consumer prices. Manufacturers will keep some of the increased costs on their shoulders. But anyway, we need to prepare for the fact that this Christmas will be more expensive than last year. " he says Jana Glasová.
Planning to buy tech gifts for Christmas? If you have any other questions, feel free to write them to us below in the discussion under the article. Follow our website too China Planet, subscribe to the newsletter and join us on Facebook also on our YouTube channels, where we are preparing an interesting video review for you.
