Like many others, the fairy wings I ordered online did not come in time for Halloween. My friends and I texted about our predicament and saw others in the same issue go viral on Tik Tok. Why were we all in this situation? It’s because of the supply chain disruption.
The United States economy is struggling to recover from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting the supply chain, driving up the prices of goods, and causing an increasing shortage of goods. What exactly does this mean, and what caused it to happen?
Let’s start off by explaining what exactly the supply chain is. Investopedia defines the supply chain as a network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. The supply chain encompasses all of the activity, people, and resources it takes to create a product and get it to the customer.
As a response to the pandemic, the production of goods and services was reduced. Now, as we move towards pre-pandemic levels, the reduced production of goods and services are causing supply chain shortages. Steven Ricchiuto, Chief Economist at Mizuho Securities USA said, “the result of that imbalance between supply and demand eliminated all the inventory and eliminated all the grease that allows the wheels of commerce to work smoothly.”
Economists also point to the shortage of workers for the supply chain disruption, a record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August. The Department of Labor reported in July 2021 that the warehouse industry had a record 490,000 job openings. The American Trucking Association estimated a shortage of 60,000 drivers, but this shortage has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Workers are a key part of the supply chain; warehouse workers and truck drivers are essential in getting goods where they need to go.
As demand for goods remains the same and supply decreases, the price of goods will continue to rise. Supply chain experts say that consumers should start tapering their demands for goods, buying less and less often, so they don’t end up paying a higher price for long-awaited goods.
So, when the demand for fairy wings increased because of Halloween and the supply remained at the level of pandemic operations, a shortage of fairy wings developed. The delays in the shipment of fairy wings can be explained by the shortage of warehouse workers and trucker drivers. It wasn’t just an unlucky chance, it was because of the supply chain disruption.