Coronavirus (COVID-19) Panic Buying?

[lovetravellingoz]

Indeed, I get the impression Aussies are too busy emptying supermarket shelves to go on holiday!
cheers skip

Not at the supermarkets I frequent. And at Costco, when don't shoppers here have full trollies?

I think it is more that hand sanitiser has a run on.

 

[Denali]

Mr LL never got n e-mail confirmation (and neither did I) but was just now able to place an order - so that's good as we only need one account to order - placed an order for Monday delivery (could have been earlier but friends still assisting this week).

Please let me know how Mon delivery goes. We havent placed an order as 1, we have enough to provide anything she needs and 2, she doesnt have $100 worth of stuff needed and 3, she still thinks shes going shopping but will hopefully change her mind.

 

[Denali]

NZ has shut down hardware stores, only tradies allowed to use so if you have plans to get to Bunnings, do it now because the aussie announcement is in a day or 2.

Bunnings working on click & collect and home delivery but have to keep their own people safe as well so dont expect it to be available after tomorrow.

 

[Denali]

Just went to see mum in law and laid down the law.

She wanted to go to the bank.... now. She wanted hubby to take her to open an account/giving us access.... now.

Me: Shops and banks and carparks are crowded. Theres no rush, whether you do it now or do it a month from now, it makes no difference so just stay at home. Dont go anywhere. Im not letting Son#1 go anywhere and Im saying the same to you. If you need anything, ask, we have it or can get it but thats it. No more trips to the shops, no more over the counter banking. If Son#2 wants to go out and get something, thats his decision but he has to come home and wash up, shower ect and stay away from you. Dont go near him. If he wants a pizza or something, thats not your problem. Theres plenty of food in both your and our house so hes not starving, just lazy.

I think she just needed someone to firmly tell her and I generally use hubby as the messenger so when I get involved, its usually followed by her and the others.

 

[drron]

Rule 1. Don't argue with Denali.

Rule 2.See Rule 1.

 

[Denali]

back to panic buying specifically - I've tried to register for Woolies Priority home delivery - doesn't seem to work (no response) - Mr LL also tried to register with his e-mail/account - no response. We are both over 70 and self-isolated - he's scheduled for surgery one week after our self-isolation ends - getting anxious - freinds have been amazing but I don't want to rely on them for weeks on end.

I cannot find a phone number to call and find our what's going on - several people in my area were approved overnight. Does any one know how to escalate.

Hubby got a text message a couple of minutes ago from Woolworths. Confirming that mum in law is accepted as special delivery and can now shop... but we could online shop/book a slot before we got the text as well.

 

[Pushka]

Hubby got a text message a couple of minutes ago from Woolworths. Confirming that mum in law is accepted as special delivery and can now shop... but we could online shop/book a slot before we got the text as well.

Mine came through just now. Not sure I will need it. However as the number of cases of isolation increases I'm not sure how that will all play out.

 

[Denali]

Rule 1. Don't argue with Denali.

Rule 2.See Rule 1.

Im on a roll today

Hubby: Taylor just sent me a email. Buy a Taylor guitar and for $100 you get a mini version of it as well
Me: Go look at your Super

 

[Buzzard]

We have toilet paper.
One roll each.

 

[tgh]

I had a turn at shopping this morning..not my usual line of work but multitasking can't be all that hard...
I remembered to put some respirators in the car but when I stopped at the mailbox (10k down the road) , the letter ,my shopping list and my phone were still at home. ...strike one
I eventually entered an extremely quiet shopping centre and decided not to waste a precious mask.
I proceeded to fill some scrips and do the required shopping including a bonanza of a pack of toilet rolls.
Feeling quite satisfied , I arrived home with my bounty but sadly the free range chicken was left hanging on the hook on the shopping trolley …strike two
Felling a tad sheepish atm and swmbo is unsure if I can be allowed out shopping again….

Masks were scattered.. maybe 5% and all were surgical style masks of varying colours and patterns.. not a single P2 respirator was seen….

 

[SydneySwan]

Yesterday I said "You wonder where is their moral compass" a few times when discussing random stuff happening and now this

Police hunting Sydney toilet paper thieves

Police are hunting two men who they say have stolen toilet paper.

www.news.com.au

One of the men reportedly threatened an employee with a knife at the Auburn store, according to police

We are fortunate that we are not in the US. I believe the weapon of choice there is a gun.

 

[SydneySwan]

Has anyone noticed that Woolworths seem to have a shortage of those orange 'reduced' stickers? I have seen no evidence that they are prioritising a resolution.

 

[Himeno]

Has anyone noticed that Woolworths seem to have a shortage of those orange 'reduced' stickers? I have seen no evidence that they are prioritising a resolution.

When people stop buying stuff as quickly, the orange stickers will return.

Post automatically merged: Mar 25, 2020

back to panic buying specifically - I've tried to register for Woolies Priority home delivery - doesn't seem to work (no response) - Mr LL also tried to register with his e-mail/account - no response. We are both over 70 and self-isolated - he's scheduled for surgery one week after our self-isolation ends - getting anxious - freinds have been amazing but I don't want to rely on them for weeks on end.

I cannot find a phone number to call and find our what's going on - several people in my area were approved overnight. Does any one know how to escalate.

Try 1800 000 610.

 

[Pushka]

HAND SANITISER LIQUID 250ml Bottle

Safe hands liquid sanitiser can be used directly on your hands to kill up to 99.9% of germs. The liquid can be applied without water for an instant & refreshing clean.This is a Liquid – not a gel. The cap is a screw lid, without a dispenser. Contains:70% Alcohol (ethanol), Water...

wheelandbarrow.com.au

 

[ja1]

Has anyone noticed that Woolworths seem to have a shortage of those orange 'reduced' stickers? I have seen no evidence that they are prioritising a resolution.

No shortage of those in my local woolies. Bought some bread marked down/reduced today (to use tomorrow). But of course noone's going to end up putting orange stickers on any meat products that are all going out the door pretty quickly.

I've always preferred to shop late in the day (e.g. ~9-10pm and now ~7-8pm) as there's been fewer people but that works against me now as I doubt much restock is happening in the evenings and of course a lot of perishables are sold quickly.

 

[ja1]

Masks were scattered.. maybe 5% and all were surgical style masks of varying colours and patterns.. not a single P2 respirator was seen….

What would be the point exactly or either ? Sorry if I missed an explanation or earlier thread but..

The medical advice (which has been repeated over and over) is that masks are to be used if you are sick/infected. There's a small subset of the populace that may have some benefit from a mask but unless you're a health care worker dealing with sick people.. what use would wearing a mask in public have since it doesn't do anything to stop you being infected.

If I see anyone wearing a mask I have to have a long think about whether I should be calling the police to investigate a possible case of someone who is infected who is breaking quarantine. And I usually end up not doing this as I am really hoping it's just someone who doesn't get it. But I try to go to the other end of the store from that person just in case.

P2 would be useful.. if people knew how to wear one correctly and get a proper seal. I'm going to bet that more than 75% of people don't.. and if they did, they wouldn't be able to wear it for more than a few minutes before it got really uncomfortable.

They're also selling for about $65 in bunnings so.. I'm really not too surprised to see very few P2's out there..

 

[p--and--t]

HAND SANITISER LIQUID 250ml Bottle

Safe hands liquid sanitiser can be used directly on your hands to kill up to 99.9% of germs. The liquid can be applied without water for an instant & refreshing clean.This is a Liquid – not a gel. The cap is a screw lid, without a dispenser. Contains:70% Alcohol (ethanol), Water...

wheelandbarrow.com.au

Sheeesh, that's over $25 a litre. Aqium is $14 per litre (but temporarily out of stock - ramping up production and allegedly should be on the shelves again in a week or so)

 

[ja1]

(4) a hugely important point is that Australia has both the capability to supply all basic needs (from electricity to pasta to toilet paper to wine) and this virus will not stop that. Why on earth hasn't he made this a predominant point of assurance for the people? That is what the public need to hear.

The most useful stat i've seen that backs that up is the data shows that Australia as a whole produces 85% of what is consumed (as food). i.e about 15% of our food consumption is imported. I'm fairly sure that of that 15% most consumers already have those items in some quantity > 1 in their pantry.

I do not have confidence in the stat that says we have a population of 25m and produce food for 75m so what's the issue - it misses all the detail on exactly how that food is produced, how it is stored, sold, delivered and so on - all of which may have issues in the future.

But I'm pretty confident that for the next 9-12 months there's sufficient distribution buffers this isn't a real issue.

What I do wish is that there was a non threatening way to identify households that had panic bought large quantities. I don't wish anything bad on them in any way but at some point if the government simply nationalises those households and converts them into supermarkets and the people who live there have to now work in their own supermarket.. particularly if they were rude or aggressive to supermarket staff as they took their 3 trolleys of stuff out to the car.. that would be justice of some sort..

 

[amaroo]

The most useful stat i've seen that backs that up is the data shows that Australia as a whole produces 85% of what is consumed (as food). i.e about 15% of our food consumption is imported. I'm fairly sure that of that 15% most consumers already have those items in some quantity > 1 in their pantry.

I do not have confidence in the stat that says we have a population of 25m and produce food for 75m so what's the issue - it misses all the detail on exactly how that food is produced, how it is stored, sold, delivered and so on - all of which may have issues in the future.

But I'm pretty confident that for the next 9-12 months there's sufficient distribution buffers this isn't a real issue.

What I do wish is that there was a non threatening way to identify households that had panic bought large quantities. I don't wish anything bad on them in any way but at some point if the government simply nationalises those households and converts them into supermarkets and the people who live there have to now work in their own supermarket.. particularly if they were rude or aggressive to supermarket staff as they took their 3 trolleys of stuff out to the car.. that would be justice of some sort..

I've read many reports, including from the CEO of Woolies, that Australia, produces food sufficient to feed 75 million people. That's a pretty decent buffer.

 

[drron]

Our local Woollies is becoming a Priority Distribution hub so only open for us from 1100-1800.

 

[juddles]

......

What I do wish is that there was a non threatening way to identify households that had panic bought large quantities. I don't wish anything bad on them in any way but at some point if the government simply nationalises those households and converts them into supermarkets and the people who live there have to now work in their own supermarket.. particularly if they were rude or aggressive to supermarket staff as they took their 3 trolleys of stuff out to the car.. that would be justice of some sort.....

ja1, I respectfully think that your feelings are misdirected here. I will explain my thinking:

We as a society have enjoyed a truly wonderful era of peace and affluence. Especially here in Australia, life has been a very stable thing. We have become accustomed to the ability to pop out on a whim and buy anything we fancy, and also to run our households on zero reserves as the supply of goodies from the supermarket has been so amazingly reliable.

Given this general stability, all businesses have striven to become as efficient (and profitable) as they can. In the area of supermarkets and so forth this means they have found ways using technology to make their logistics chains super-efficient, and run on essentially zero-margin in the actual stores. As I have posted elsewhere, I think there is a fundamental lack of understanding by consumers as to what their local woolies looks like behind the scenes - the belief appears to be widely held that "out the back" there is a big warehouse that they use to stock up the shelves with. This is simply not the case! Pretty much all supermarkets and most other businesses literally only keep on hand the stuff you see on the shelves themselves - anything "out the back" is essentially just the stock that has arrived in the last few hours that hasn't yet been moved to the shelves. They can do this as with fancy modern tech automatic orders for stocks can be made instantly based on sales that day, and within seconds a warehouse further away can start to load a truck to send it. And when that warehouse sends stock out, likewise an order goes back to the warehouse behind that one....

Products such as toilet paper are an extremely stable item in the sense of how much product is used by the population on a daily basis. So all the way back in the logistics chain, they can minimize any excess that needs to be stored and rehandled (which increases costs). And behind the whole logistics chain, the manufacturers can likewise restrict their production to a minimal and precise rate, to also save costs. This is overall an extremely efficient way of doing things.

BUT, it is a system where there is simply no capacity to respond to any sudden spike in demand.

A month or so ago, a few people decided to buy some extra toilet paper. Not because they are evil hoarders or panic buyers, but they were quite sensibly thinking that they should get some extra in case they had to self-isolate. So really they should be commended in their public spirit. This tiny spike in demand instantly made a few shelves light, which spooked the next lot - those who became the "panic buyers". And I do not blame them either. For their whole lives they have been accustomed to wandering down to the local supermarket and buying a couple of rolls every so often. Even though good old dunny paper is a really important item in households, people have never needed to have any margin (stock) held at home. So when one day they casually go to get some and there is none, they freak out. So the next day when there is some product, they decide to grab some extra rolls "in case" they will miss out next time. This creates a bigger surge in demand, and suddenly the whole supply chain is unable to meet the spike in demand, and everyone starts panic buying, making the whole thing worse.

I believe what is happening (specific to loo paper) is that now many people have had their beautiful faith in toilet-paper supply burst. So everyone is trying to build a household stockpile, or buffer. I think the loo paper thing will only settle once the suppliers and supermarkets have finally managed to produce an extra amount so that everyone now has their stash, and production can return to the normal levels.

I think the same principals apply to all the other products, from pasta to tinned tomatoes. It is a perfectly decent and sane thing to have a store of these things in your home, especially in times of uncertainty of ability to freely move around and shop.

So, IMHO, rather than blame "panic shoppers", we perhaps should take a look at ourselves as a society and ask questions as to how we have let ourselves become so safe and secure that we risk living without margins....

EDIT: additional comment - just look at modern houses. It seems everyone has to have a media room, etc, but the pantry is tiny....