Disruptions to supply chains and the resulting shortages are sparking some concerns about the rising costs of school supplies. The KPMG survey found that among US consumers who expected to spend more per child this season, 39% said it was because sticker prices are going up. This expectation among shoppers may lead to a greater focus on price comparison and bargain hunting this year.

The brand has since expanded its portfolio to include polos, which experienced a delayed launch because of the pandemic and strained supply chains. We recently spoke with Borrelli about how the company is continuing to grow despite COVID-19. Are you primarily an ecommerce company, or do you have brick-and-mortar locations as well?

I oversee the merchandising team, as well as the supply chain, the customer service team, and the forecasting team, which forecasts [the success of] the products we’re buying, and how much and when we should be buying them. So, you’re looking at a lot of data and analytics to figure out what consumers are—and will be—buying.

We wanted to leverage our restaurants and use the supply chain in this new experience, thus MealPal Market was created. Right now it's just in New York, but it’s essentially a marketplace of curated grocery boxes, all at roughly 40% off the prices you typically pay for Instacart or FreshDirect.

Supply chain troubles have heightened risk for sellers heading into Prime Day. Volatile demand during the pandemic has made inventory forecasting more difficult, with sellers trying to balance proper inventory levels to avoid out-of-stocks with their need for cash and working capital.

We recently spoke with Brian Hashemi, the brand's head of marketing and analytics, about how it has adapted to new supply chain logistics, what it is doing to retain new customers, and the pros and cons of TikTok advertising. How has the pandemic affected Uncommon Goods? We had to completely shut down our main distribution center in New York City for two months.

Walmart is now extending its ecommerce battle with Amazon into the healthcare space—which makes sense, considering Amazon and Walmart both have impressive supply chain infrastructures to dispense medications and become healthcare powerhouses.

Supply chains are challenged, inventory forecasting is unpredictable, and consumer demand is fluctuating wildly. Amazon’s decision to move Prime Day from mid-July to October has only thrown a bigger wrench into seasonal spending patterns, leaving retailers and sellers awash with uncertainty.

But for now, tight supply chains and logistical restrictions—like those announced by Amazon to limit warehouse operations—mean it’s hard for consumers to buy a lot of items online. Amazon has reportedly pulled back significantly from spending on Google search ads, likely because it doesn’t want to drive additional demand when it’s already running close to capacity.

It’s safe to say that people didn’t see this particular shock coming and weren’t prepared in terms of, for example, just-in-time supply chains. Current events come with significant changes in consumer media usage habits. More people are spending more time at home; what will they be doing there?

For example, traditional companies like UnitedHealth’s Optum and Cerner have been on an M&A spree to bring different parts of the healthcare supply chain in-house. Amazon is uniquely positioned to disrupt healthcare, though—since its core businesses like Prime and AWS are experiencing escalating profits, it’s able to shoulder the risks that come with vertical expansion.

While major players like Current Health and Komodo Health are knee-deep in the clinical trial space, CVS has the cards stacked in its favor—it has businesses across the entire pharma supply chain it can lean on for recruitment. Clinical trials are key in proving the safety and efficacy of new drugs—but participant recruitment and retention prevent many of them from finishing successfully.

Disruptions in the supply chain are also likely. That will mean slower shipping times, normally a distinguishing factor for D2C products.". From 2016 to 2019, D2C ecommerce grew at three to six times the rate of overall ecommerce sales. But with competition intensifying and the sector maturing, D2C’s growth in 2020 is less than two times that of total ecommerce (24.3% vs. 13.2%, respectively).

Boal: Shoppers are under pressure and we want to make sure that we continue to get value to shoppers, but CPG [consumer packaged goods] brands are under pressure, too, because the supply chains got really tight. And in some cases, CPGs stopped giving promotions to shoppers.

However, with manufacturers in China being affected by the outbreak, other supply chains may need to be considered. Measure everything.

It’s safe to say that people didn’t see this particular shock coming and weren’t prepared in terms of, for example, just-in-time supply chains. Current events come with significant changes in consumer media usage habits. More people are spending more time at home—what will they be doing there?

Its national logistics industries are underdeveloped, its supply chains are unstable, its regulatory regimes are burdensome, and its ecommerce providers are still evolving. And, of course, a huge swath of its population still has limited purchasing power because of widespread poverty.

Holly has had senior leadership roles in marketing and product management at ServiceNow, SAP, Knight Ridder, and Apple positioning solutions for marketing, customer service, field service, sales, HR, IT, and supply chain. Moderator:. Suzy Davidkhanian is an eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, covering retail and ecommerce.

Panic buying and supply-chain disruptions caused by the virus have impacted inventories at grocery stores. However, a relatively small percentage of grocery shoppers are going online for the items that they can’t find in stores.

Supply chain disruptions, shipping delays, unexpected cash flow disturbances, remote-work precautions, changing consumer behavior and public unease—all are unforeseen outcomes that have caused businesses to reevaluate their marketing strategies.

So, we spend a lot of time making sure our supply chain and network can support this increase in demand. Most mothers I spoke with are doing many jobs right now—they are the teacher, they're helping out with housework and obviously doing office work. A lot of our customers felt it was important to acknowledge that this year.

He’s helped pioneer the industry’s move to a more transparent, accountable digital inventory supply chain, working to ensure clients get full value for their digital ad investment.