COVID-19 affecting supply chains

If you’re having trouble finding appliances and other goods for sale due to backlogs and delays, you’re not alone. The pandemic is affecting activity up and down the supply chain. We talked about it with Dale Rogers from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

The problem is that people are in need of updated appliances because they’re all working from home. The question is what is selling and what isn’t? Big box stores are facing more shortage than smaller stores and that’s because they can do things that big box stores can’t. Rogers points out what items are not selling. It’s stuff people aren’t really in need for, like women’s apparel. The hope is that things get better in the fourth quarter.

The problem that has been occurring is that warehouse space, and shipment delays. It’s causing a higher demand in warehousing. The stores that have been hit the hardest are hoping that Christmas will save them.

Rogers warns that we don’t know when things will start looking better, but for a lot of people things are going to stay the same.