By ISABEL MENDOZA
Staff Writer
Costco once again is limiting how many toilet paper, paper towels and even cleaning supplies you purchase.
The Delta variant is spreading across the world, making people go crazy and buy more supplies to keep clean. This isn’t the only reason why Costco seems to limit purchases. The warehouse store is having trouble finding truck drivers and shipping containers to get the actual items to different Costco stores.
Costco CFO Richard Galanti, speaking to investors after reporting quarterly results said “The factors pressuring supply chains and inflammation include port delays, container shortages, Covid disruptions, shortages on various components, raw materials and ingredients, labor cost pressures and truck and driver shortages. Various major brands are requesting longer lead times, and in some cases, difficulty in finding drivers and trucks on short notice.”
In 2020 customers were panic buying, worried that they couldn’t buy the products in the future due to Covid. Galanti was focused on getting the products to the stores. He said the problems with the company’s supply chain is causing it to order earlier than it might be otherwise.
“Over the past two years people have become conditioned to respond with panic buying whenever they learn of some impending lockdown or shortage. And so far, efforts by community leaders have been ineffective in controlling episodes of panic buying. Our leaders typically say something like ‘Don’t panic! There is enough toilet paper!’ This message backfires because it pairs, in the mind of shoppers, toilet paper and panic.” Steven Taylor, a professor in the University of British Columbia Psychiatry Department stated.
This is known as the “Innuendo effect” in social psychology. While putting limits on purchases can prevent shortages, they often put fear on the part of the shoppers.
