It is the time of gifting and many holiday shoppers are in a frantic trying to get the right gifts for their family and friends and with a widespread shortage, it only gets harder. The holidays are becoming more and more disappointing because of the fashionable the out-of-stock message of the most popular items, but with the inclusion of a global pandemic, the demand, and supply of goods have created unmatched shortages across all types of goods, from your favorite chips to gaming consoles or even your ordinary items like pajamas. Therefore, many holiday shoppers are thinking ahead and buying early because these shortages a predicted to only increase during the final stretch of the holiday season.

This year’s Cyber Monday, also known as the biggest online shopping day of the year had an increase of out-of-stock messages by 8% according to Adobe Digital Economy when compared to a Week earlier. In response to this many stores have added new online tools that offer customers a substitute if their original choice is sold old. But many shoppers are still dissatisfied with the alternatives, which leads them to resort to eBay and are left purchasing the items three times more than the retail price.

Retailers are at stake for great loss instead of profiting during this season. This is because if shoppers do not get what they want or do not like the alternatives are given to them, this may lead them to go to a different store. However, experts believe there will be an increase in gift card purchases and shoppers may be willing to try alternative products because the pandemic trained shoppers to try new products and abandon their usual providers.

It has only gotten more difficult as Americans have returned from the lockdowns with an unrelenting urge to shop again. There is now a shortage of containers shipping the goods and even shortages of workers to offload the goods and has gotten harder for smaller retailers to restock their shelves.