Do you still remember that in March and April this year, Europe was stocking up like crazy because of the epidemic panic? Toilet paper, kitchen paper, bottled water… supermarket shelves were cleared. Half a year has passed, there is less panic, fewer people are panic buying, and the shelves in supermarkets are full again.
Entering October, with the With the second wave of the epidemic, the wave of stockpiling is coming again.
According to the German version of the European Times, since October, the second wave of the epidemic in Germany has suddenly become severe, so some people have begun to become uneasy. The Edeka supermarket group in Wuppertal reports that sales of kitchen paper, toilet paper and long-shelf-life foods such as pasta or flour have all increased significantly recently.
Markus Billstein, the group’s managing director, said: “It’s not just us, the situation in other stores looks similar. This behavior is selfish for other customers who are shopping ‘normally’ , the latter will eventually have to face empty shelves.”
In the UK, because she heard that a second wave of the epidemic was about to break out, Sophie immediately took action and spent two weeks, every day I went shopping in the supermarket and finally managed to get back 200 rolls of toilet paper, 200 masks, 12 bottles of bleach, 24 cans of milk powder, 40 buckets of cup noodles, 12 packs of Family cereal, 24 cans of toilet cleaner… all over the city All the supermarkets left traces of her “battle” – the shelves were cleared.
Sophie said that she was frightened when the city was closed for the first time. Now that the epidemic has recurred, the city may have a sequel. There is also the risk of influenza in winter, so she does not plan to go out. So I decided to build myself a super fortress as soon as possible.
Caption: There is another rush to buy in some supermarkets in Germany. Image source: European Times German Edition
In Spain, toilet paper is not the primary target for people to buy. According to the Spanish newspaper Europa, the latest data from Gelt, Spain’s largest consumer purchase data platform, shows that these days, the shelves of cleaning products in supermarkets are very popular, with purchases of detergents increasing by 45%, and ammonia detergent sales increasing. Purchase volume increased by 36%, and sales of some foods that can be stored for a long time also surged by more than 30%. However, data also shows that, contrary to the peak period of the epidemic, sales of rum dropped by 26%, gin sales dropped by 22%, whiskey sales dropped by 17%, and candy sales dropped by 15%. It is speculated that the party has some effects. reduce.
Recently, Americans have also begun a wave of “hoarding”, just like they did at the beginning of the epidemic. However, in addition to worrying about the resurgence of the epidemic in autumn and winter, people are also worried about riots caused by the election results.
Leslyn Hall in Vermont plans to stock up on some goods before the end of October. Her shopping list includes milk, beans, rice, etc., and she plans to stock up on enough for 2-3 weeks. Hall noted that while the outbreak in Vermont is not severe, supermarket shelves are still often full and in-demand items like cleaning supplies are often out of stock.
Hall is certainly not alone when it comes to stocking up. According to the Sports & Recreation Research Group survey, more than half of respondents (52%) said they have stocked up or plan to stock up on food and other necessary supplies. The main reason is the fear of a resurgence of the epidemic, even leading to new restrictions or closures. Another reason is that people are worried that the election early next month may lead to riots. This time, though, consumers are unlikely to experience the severe shortages seen at the beginning of the pandemic. According to the Wall Street Journal, major supermarkets have stepped up their purchases to ensure that they have enough inventory to cope with the possible rise in the epidemic and the arrival of the holiday season.
There are some signs that supermarket sales are already starting to pick up. Data company Envestnet Yodlee pointed out that in the week of October 6, people spent an average of 72 yuan each time they went to the supermarket, which was 11% higher than the previous week. This was a new high since June and the second highest level since January.
The Christmas order-taking season for foreign trade is “virtual”, beware of order cancellations due to a second epidemic!
Since 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic that has spread around the world has caused a huge impact on the clothing industry. In the past few months, news of store closures, layoffs, and bankruptcies of European and American clothing brands have been common. However, in the Behind these well-known brands, there are more small businesses and factories that serve as OEMs, especially in Cambodia, Bangladesh, India and other countries. Due to the unilateral cancellation and postponement of orders by Europe and the United States, and the refusal to pay overseas suppliers, these OEMs have suffered Caught in existential crisis!
The epidemic has exposed the so-called “spirit of contract” in European and American countries. During the epidemic, China’s textile and garment industry, as the “world’s factory”, was also deeply affected. However, as time goes by, The textile and garment industry began to develop gradually in June.
Compared with these countries in Southeast Asia, China’s textile and clothing industry has seen a clear recovery trend recently. According to relevant data, from January to September 2020, the cumulative exports of textile and clothing were 2157.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.3%, of which textile exports were US$117.95 billion, an increase of 33.7%, and clothing exports were US$117.95 billion, an increase of 33.7%.Exports were US$97.83 billion, down 10.3%. In particular, orders from India began to flow back to China.
As the “world’s factory”, China is very advantageous in undertaking textile orders. Previously, with the continuous improvement of Southeast Asian countries’ industries and products, as well as the trade between China and the United States, Due to repeated relations and other reasons, China no longer has an absolute advantage in this kind of relatively low-end textile orders. This has also led to the transfer of a large number of low-end textile orders to countries such as Southeast Asia and India in the past few years.
However, the epidemic situation in these countries has not been well controlled recently and it is difficult to deliver such large orders. However, the epidemic situation in China has been basically controlled, so these orders have returned to China.
But the more we need to sound the alarm at this time, as can be seen from the above news events, we must be cautious when doing business with European and American customers. Although the epidemic is a force majeure, Cancellation and delay of orders are also helpless actions, but the most important thing in doing business is mutual trust.
Now that a large number of orders have been transferred back to China, we must be careful at this time, take precautions, and add relevant clauses to the contract to prevent order cancellations and cancellations due to the second epidemic. The situation where the payment cannot be recovered! </p
