Alerts bad news
– If anyone is dreaming of a PlayStation 5 under the Christmas tree, then quite a few will be disappointed, is the clear message from Simon Frölich, sales manager at Danish Power.
In Denmark, the country’s largest electronics chains are now warning that this year’s Christmas gifts are in danger of not reaching customers on time. It writes Finans.dk.
Fear empty store shelves
The global freight crisis and the lack of semiconductors, or microchips, have put particular electronics players in a fierce squeeze. And business in Norway is no exception.
As Børsen has previously mentioned, a «perfect storm» has led to large parts of world trade being on their knees. A large number of logistics companies, importers and trade in goods have themselves gone out and warned that the situation for world trade has been «worse and worse».
Among other things, Christmas shopping is threatened, prices are skyrocketing and delays have become even greater. Ikea is among the trade giants struggling with shortages due to the global freight crisis. At the same time, the book industry is warning of an international shortage of paper.
Empty shelves
Even if customers take the trade stand’s request to secure Christmas presents as early as November, the electronics stores cannot guarantee that the announced delivery date will actually apply.
Ships “disappear” – threaten Christmas shopping
– We have prepared for black week and shopped even more than we usually do, but there is already a shortage of some products, and some shelves will be empty. These will be some products we will not get home for Christmas, says Peder Stedal, CEO of Elgiganten – which is Elkøb’s name in Denmark and Sweden.
Anders Nilsen, CEO of Power Norge, can not rule out that some popular products are also at risk in this country.
– PlayStation 5, some Apple products and phones may prove to have the biggest delay. That said, there are still alternatives to most things, Nilsen tells Børsen.
– Bought with both hands
The top manager at Power can offer immediate delivery of at least 90 percent of the range today. In addition, the company is waiting for a larger delivery with PlayStation 5, which is scheduled to arrive before Christmas.
– We have bought goods with both hands to compensate for the challenges we would face sooner or later. The truth is that we have had a good approach during the whole pandemic and that we only got some clear messages about delays after the summer.
Christmas warning: – Shooting in the air
In the wake of the pandemic, the global supply chain has come under tremendous pressure. It has been particularly difficult to get goods through congested ports due to a sharp increase in demand.
However, Power learns that the customer looks for alternative solutions when there is a shortage of goods.
– Sales of gaming PCs have increased significantly, so it is clear that it can be an alternative to regular game console. We are sure that we can solve most of the Christmas gifts this year as well, says Nilsen.
“Perfect storm” creates crisis
– May be restricted access
Elkøb states that the company has had challenges with access to goods in connection with the need for some electronics.
– Especially around home office-related products on a global level, due to the pandemic, but also due to capacity challenges at various factories, says communications manager Madeleine Schøyen Bergly to Børsen.
– Sold out soon
She says that Elkjøp took action early on to secure the inventory. Bergly justifies the situation by changing rapidly, and that it is thus difficult to predict which goods are most exposed to delays.
– We lead into extra warehouse buildings to be sure that the storage space should be large enough. We have never had as many items as now, but still recommend our customers to be out early, as these are the most popular products that are sold first and for which there may be limited access.
– Find alternatives
Like other chains, Elkøb finds that a particular product can be difficult to obtain.
Disappointing Ikea message: – May take time
– With our huge range, it is difficult to know which specific products have the greatest chance of being hit by challenging product supply, with the exception of the PS5 which already has low availability and high demand.
However, the supply of goods is good, the main warehouse.
– If the customer experiences our experiences and lower availability of selected products in given periods, we will, as always, do what we can to help in each situation, with good alternatives on similar products.
Economics professor predicts sharp downturn
– Really big impact
As mentioned, the problems for the Nordic electronics giants are compounded by a worldwide transport crisis. The problem may also be getting worse.
The stock exchange reported on Wednesday that China has blocked access to ship data in its waters.
China has six of the world’s ten busiest container ports. Without information on ship traffic in these waters, it could mean even greater problems for the global shipping industry.
– As we approach Christmas, this will have a really big impact on the supply chain, and this is the most important element right now, says Georgio Hatzimanolis of the company Marine Traffic, which provides ship tracking information, to CNN.