Service of Planning Way Ahead
September 30th, 2021
Categories: Christmas, Holiday Sales, Holidays, Pandemic, Planning Ahead, Retail, Shortages, Thanksgiving
Does everyone plan way ahead these days?
As early as August people had rented homes and hotel rooms to gather with family members for out of town Thanksgiving celebrations.
Daily we’re warned to buy Christmas gifts now. Wait and we will be unable to purchase the ones we want.
Michelle Fox at cnbc.com reported that a creditcards.com survey forecasted that 27 percent of holiday shoppers plan to start before the end of September and 13 percent started in August. In addition to bargain shopping and threats of rising prices that inspire early purchases, supply chain clogs and shortages of computer chips and other key components inspire shopping now.
Toys are particularly at risk. Fox wrote: “Some Lego advent calendars are already selling out, Ellsworth noted. Other hot items include Squishmallows and a plush toy of the Morris character from the Marvel movie ‘Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.’” Kate Ellsworth is the executive editor of commerce content at Reviewed.
Lisa Baertlein, Reuters, reported in mid-September that “A record 60 container vessels are at anchor or adrift in the San Pedro Bay, waiting to be unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach seaports and another 20 are due to arrive in coming days.”
An article on thedeepdive.ca reported; “According to data from the Bank of America cited by CNBC, overseas shipping container costs have significantly ballooned since the beginning of the pandemic.” The article: “Costco Warns of Higher Inflation Ahead of Holiday Season, Dismantling ‘Transitory’ Narrative.” Reporter Hermina Paull continued “A 40-foot container shipped from Shanghai to New York was priced at approximately $2,000 just over one year ago; now, that price tag has soared to around $16,000.” She predicted that with upcoming holidays consumers should expect to cover such increased costs.
Have you noticed that people are making plans unusually early this year whether holiday related or otherwise? Are “buy early” warnings real or an attempt to stimulate or increase sales? Are you shopping early or resorting to gift cards? Is this a one-off due to the pandemic or may we expect it for years?
Image by Sabrina Ripke from Pixabay
Tags: Bank of America, Lego, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Squishmallows
Did you know picked out my Christmas cards and Christmas stamps yesterday! Guess organizing early.
Kathleen,
I’ll say you’re early! You know that you’ll have cards to send! Others might make the excuse that there were none to buy! The direction the post office is acting–tomorrow major chances augur big delays –you might need to send those cards at Thanksgiving so they get where they are going by Christmas!
Debbie on Facebook: Rented a car for Tksgvg on Monday. Due to budget considerations holiday cards will be my gifts (if that). People who love you aren’t basing their relationships on holiday gifts (at least I hope not). 😂
Debbie,
And I was researching where to park the Jaguar I expected to see under the Christmas tree! Harumph!
Fall is the time to buy ahead, stocking heavy and/or bulky supplies such as kitty litter, paper goods & etc. so as to avoid carting them home in the snow, which is a good way to slip and break bones. Other times, call me lazy Grass Hopper as opposed to industrious Ant!
Lucrezia,
Smart planning!
A friend who for health reasons could hardly set nose out of her house before Covid-19 vaccines were available learned how convenient ordering on line is and urged me to cut out the lugging and have bulky things shipped. As I don’t have a car I have begun to do this. What a relief! If you know where to buy and you meet the minimum so you don’t have to pay for shipping you will pay a fair price.