As the festive season is approaching, businesses across the globe are gearing up to tackle the chaos and meet consumer demands without shedding much sweat.
With countries still struggling with the pandemic woes, this very busy time of the year will not only bring the retail supply chains the joy of bagging increased profitability but also keep them busier than usual in ensuring that their products make it to the shelves.
But times are tough. There are disruptions that are bringing global businesses to their knees as they try to keep their supply chains intact.
The global FMCG brand Nestle while speaking about the upcoming festive season shared that it is experiencing some supply chain problems ahead of the Christmas period.
Mark Schneider, the chief executive of Nestle told the BBC that Nestle is working hard to make sure products made it way to the shelves this winter. He pointed out that it is their team’s top priority to work constructively with retailers to supply them.
A number of supply chains are undergoing a hard time and unwrapping more and more challenges as they begin to approach the holiday season.
Many countries across the globe are looking at a major driver shortage problem which is making it near impossible for the retail supply chain to successfully deliver their products to the stores.
Furthermore, the new cases of COVID in certain nations are keeping people in fear and many supply chains at the global level are experiencing labour shortage at their warehouses, making operations inefficient.
“Like other businesses, we are seeing some labour shortages and some transportation issues,” says Schneider.
Adding to the stress levels is the global shipping bottlenecks.
The pandemic induced restrictions across the globe have resulted in a shortage of containers causing the container shipping prices to severely spike and shippers struggling to bag adequate space for their freight.
Also, the uncertainty of the global market has made the deliveries of cargo through shipping lines highly unreliable.
Struggling with these challenges, many retail brands have ditched shipping lines and opted for alternatives, while others are working round the clock with retailers to ensure their products make it to their end customers this festive season.
