TAMPA, Fla. — It might be a good idea to start your Christmas shopping earlier this year.
High demand for products over the holiday season is expected to "clog" the backed-up shipping channels even more than it already is, a professor of business analytics at the University of Iowa told Axios.
If you decide to wait to buy presents, there is a possibility of not being able to get them in time for Christmas.
Companies are expected to run into some congestion in production through 2021 as they "scrounge for raw materials, shipping containers, and labor," she explained to Axios.
Suppliers to Walmart, Target, Amazon and other major retailers told Reuters they plan on placing holidays orders for Chinese-made merchandise weeks in advance this year.
Specific companies like Nintendo are "unable to make enough Switch consoles to meet demand" and are not sure about their production plans for the coming year, IGN reports.
“Inventory levels will be retailers’ primary concern as they are faced with the decision to either have limited or no stock of certain items or manage higher costs associated with air shipping goods instead,” Mario Ciabarra, CEO of digital analytics firm Quantum Metric told CNBC.
A key terminal at the third busiest port in the world was shut down after a worker was positive with COVID-19. According to CNBC, this is the second time this year that China stopped operations at one of its key ports.
China's "zero-tolerance" law when it comes to COVID-19 will worsen the already-stressed supply chains this year, analysts tell CNBC.