Panic buying has retailers scrambling to restock
— Grocers big and small are hiring more workers, paying overtime and limiting purchases on certain high demand items as they scramble to restock shelves that have been wiped out by panic shopping in response to the global viral pandemic.
Amazon said it will only accept shipments from suppliers of cleaning equipment, medical supplies and household goods at its warehouses for the next three weeks to fill surging demand. It is hiring 100,000 people across the U.S. to keep up with a crush of orders as more people stay at home and shop online. It will also temporarily raise pay by $2 an hour through the end of April for hourly employees.
Many grocers are also limiting purchases of products like Purell sanitizers, Lysol cleaning spray and canned soup so that there is enough to go around. And companies like Walmart and Target are curbing store hours for the public in order to give workers time to restock shelves.
The moves come as industry executives insist supply chains remain strong despite frustrated customers showing up to stores and sometimes walking away empty-handed.
The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association on Sunday urged shoppers to restrain themselves, asking that if they didn’t need an item in the next two weeks to leave it for someone else who does.
Some stores like Target, Northeastern grocery chain Stop & Shop and Australia’s Woolworth are implementing special hours to accommodate elderly customers, who have been avoiding crowds that leave them susceptible to COVID-19, the disease that has infected nearly 130,000 people worldwide and caused more than 4,800 deaths.
French officials, like those elsewhere in Europe, say there’s no reason for shortages if customers shop reasonably. In Paris on Monday, residents raided supermarkets in anticipation of a lockdown.
Border closures to keep out the sick are also posing problems around a Europe designed for open frontiers. In Slovenia, which lies in the path from Italy and Austria to the Balkans, cargo trucks recently waited for more than 24 hours for checks.
To help ease the bottleneck in the U.S., the federal government has suspended rules that limit the number of hours that truckers can drive. And on Sunday, President Donald Trump had a conference call with 30 food, grocery and beverage retail executives who recommended certain actions like establishing a point person in the administration to oversee coordination with various government agencies in order to deliver essential food supplies faster to stores.
Meanwhile, manufacturing facilities are seeking exemptions to state and local restrictions that limit the size of public gatherings so that they can keep moving their products. And retailers are wrestling with labor shortages as workers worry about being exposed to the coronavirus and stay home.
For the workers who show up, sheer exhaustion is taking a toll as they must work faster while dealing with angry customers.