Who else has noticed the shops running low on stock?

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Anyone else? Clothes shops - sparse stock, what remains is last season's rejects. Furniture and electrical - empty space where goods have sold out without replacement. Even misc in John Lewis, e.g. mirrors etc. Is anyone here in buying/stock management and know anything about this?

I did read that fashion chains cancelled next season orders at lockdown, but with restrictions world wide (and tensions high between UK and China), when will full stock return?

I have been buying some homeware this week and yes, lots and lots of items sold out. I assume a supply issue worldwide - inevitable, I think. I suspect it will take a long time to get back to normal - Covid not over yet and potentially going to get worse before it gets better.

Some of it will be intentional extra space left to allow social distanicng and to minimise the need for additional cleaning, especially in places that sell things like furniture or other things that need to be regularly cleaned, and many shops are running on reduced staffing for various reasons meaning less stocking can get done especially during open hours so if you are visiting later in the day some shelves may appear empty because they haven't had chance to get the stock from the back. Beyond that there may be some chains that rely on high turnover of stock that are struggling to obtain stock but most have loads of excess spring stock that was left over when shops closed in March so if they were short of current season stock I'd imagine they'd rather attempt to sell some of that out of season rather than have significant amounts of empty space (primark are said to be sitting on multiple warehouses full of excess stock with the plan of selling it next year).

@Enoughnowstop

I have been buying some homeware this week and yes, lots and lots of items sold out. I assume a supply issue worldwide - inevitable, I think. I suspect it will take a long time to get back to normal - Covid not over yet and potentially going to get worse before it gets better.

Does seem to be a supply issue. Funnily, not seeing it badly in the supermarket just now - just things missing here or there.

I have noticed though that I can't get my hair product atm. I'd stocked up for brexit but went though the stock during covid. Prepper woes 😂

Either supply Issue
Or everyone that decorated and renovated during furlough have now accessorised

I know that's what I did. We already had the decorating stuff just didn't have time. Dh furloughed and we did the entire house.
I purchased what I could at the supermarket but the rest I need to go to town for, maybe others beat me to it 😂

I have been trying for several weeks to buy a bra in my size, as my old ones are going a bit saggy and one of them has the wires sticking out. Nothing available except in "interesting" colours.

Printer ink

lots of supply issues - air freight very much more expensive, boats taking the long routes because fuel is cheaper than tolls etc, not to mention production holdups in China.

Try getting Tesco own brand Coke zero. Can't find it. But can get real coke zero.

Few other bits getting harder to get.

I wouldn't be surprised if Currys PC World went under, they have had massive problems with online ordering, taking orders & money but not supplying goods or supplying damaged goods & refusing to replace or refund.

I work in the textiles industry and we are slowly running out of dyes and other supplies that are not available.

I've noticed gaps in shops too.

It’s fascinating to me watching what stores are out of weekly.

Lots of flour and yeast available, but have had issues with (at diff times) cocoa powder/cornmeal/crushed pineapple/pizza kits

Marigold gloves

Probably a lot of supply chain issues, but also having had fingers burnt sitting on stock when shops closed (not just seasonal items, but also high value white goods etc) and with the looming recession, possibly also cautious about having too much cash tied up in stock until they know how demand will pan out?

Slow boats from China... I gather its a real thing... Less demand so boats are going slower to save fuel .. Also save costs as not paying fees if not in port...

I've noticed it with strange things... Plain white dinner plates, home printers, kitchen scales... They just don't seem to have replaced the stock

Yes, I want to buy some new BMX shoes for DS (so quite niche) I can’t get 5 10s, Vans have much fewer styles than usual and DCs the same.

I also want to get some Fabletics leggings but they also have far fewer styles. Mind you, I suppose leisure wear has probably been one of the most popular items of clothing to buy recently 😂

We'd just been getting supermarket shopping so hadn't noticed anything wrong. Until the last couple of weeks.

We've been looking for a few things online and just constantly getting out of stock results. Went to Homebase for some gardening/diy bits and couldn't believe the empty shelves everywhere.

Yesterday went into town for the first time since lockdown and had a very long shopping list. Couldn't get anything anywhere - loads of shops were closed (even those that could easily do SD). The shops that were open looked more like closing down sales with random oddments of stock all over the place between empty shelves/racks. Came away with literally nothing except for a few toiletries.

Looks like entire factories/supply chains have given up. We were really surprised, especially seeing as the supermarkets have done so well to keep shelves stocked and nearly full product ranges (after the first couple of weeks of panic buying that is).

If shops are serious about surviving, they need to sort themselves out and start getting stock to sell.

Probably a lot of supply chain issues, but also having had fingers burnt sitting on stock when shops closed (not just seasonal items, but also high value white goods etc) and with the looming recession, possibly also cautious about having too much cash tied up in stock until they know how demand will pan out?

But if they don't have anything to sell, it's a certainty that they'll go out of business. Isn't the whole point of a shop that it has stock to sell???

Yes to marigolds!
Also- no Sainsbury's own Jaffa cakes. For months and months (and we only buy those ones because mcvities have palm oil in them)
No worcestershire sauce
What are people making with it all?
The strawberry jam my son likes was out of stock for six weeks until this week.

Strawberry ice cream too. I haven't seen any for months.

It's to be expected, you can have pretty much all the world's high output factories in the far East shut down for months without running out of all kinds if things.

I'm sure it's only a short matter of time before it picks up again, the time it takes to get freight from China is also and issue as a PP said

Biggest disappointment was no sponges in wilkinsons! (Then again, their stationery aisle was completely empty too!).

It's to be expected, you can have pretty much all the world's high output factories in the far East shut down for months without running out of all kinds if things.

It's not just Chinese production. Loads of UK factories are still shut too. One of my clients is a window blinds fitter. He has dozens of orders waiting but the two factories he usually uses are still closed and aren't giving any idea at all about re-opening. He's been holding out until now, but has finally had to change to different factories and now has to go out to all his customers again to get them to chose from different sample/pattern books which is a massive waste of time for him, but he can't live without income any longer.

That’s interesting about Currys as that’s the experience I just had. It was awful and I won’t trust them again.

I've been commenting to my family for weeks now that stock is not coming into the shops like it used to. I've given up with George, their New In section is hardly any different on a week to week basis. Electricals are also low on stock. Shopping is a PITA online because you Google something and when you've found what you want there's no stock in, very annoying and unnerving.

Garden furniture is thin on the ground. Nearly everywhere is out of stock, but perhaps as it's seasonal.