The delivery bottlenecks are affecting very different areas of the trade.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Delivery problems no longer only plague industry, but also German retailers. 74 percent of retailers complained about such problems in September, according to a survey published by the Ifo Institute on Tuesday.
“The procurement problems from the industry have now also arrived here,” said the head of the Ifo surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe. “Some Christmas presents may not be available or will be expensive.”
In the bicycle trade, all of the companies surveyed reported problems with their orders. “There is currently sand in the gears of global logistics,” said Wohlrabe. “In addition, freight rates in shipping have increased significantly.” The after-effects of the timber price rally in the first half of the year were evident in DIY stores (99 percent) and furniture stores.
The scarcity of chips and semiconductors means that not every product is immediately available at electronics retailers: That is what 97 percent of retailers of consumer electronics said. In the motor vehicle trade (88 percent), delivery problems are particularly evident in the case of electric cars.
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As a consequence, many retailers are now also targeting price increases. “The industry has announced price increases and this is now inevitably arriving in the retail sector,” said Wohlrabe.
Christmas shopping: retailers see no cause for concern
Despite all the problems, retailers do not yet expect any major disruptions in the approaching Christmas business. “With a view to the upcoming Christmas business, there is no need to worry,” said the chief executive of the German Retail Association (HDE), Stefan Genth, of the Reuters news agency.
“The search for suitable Christmas presents is assured again this year.” This time too, new releases and new models of very popular products could become scarce, as production bottlenecks could arise here. “It is not to be expected that people will stand in front of empty shelves when they go shopping for Christmas,” said Genth. In the past few years, German retailers put together sales of around 100 billion euros each in November and December.
More: “Expect horrendous additional costs” – the price spiral for industrial products continues for months