The US money distribution plan has been stopped. Will this year's peak season still be "busy"?

As the peak season arrives, the US money distribution plan stops ...

The peak season that cross-border sellers have been looking forward to is coming, which also means that many sellers will usher in their own "year-end hot selling season". As a major gold-digging place for cross-border sellers, the United States is particularly important for consumers to have money. It is reported that the deadline for the unemployment benefits issued by the US government during the epidemic has expired on September 6. Will the suspension of the US money distribution plan affect the seller's order volume? It is reported that due to the "pocket-short" of the American people, the number of 1-yuan stores has reached a new high. There are many factors that affect the seller's order volume. Surveys show that due to the obstruction of the global supply chain, the US shopping season may be downturn.

The global supply chain is blocked, and this year's Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday, etc. may be affected

The global supply chain is in dire straits. As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for shoppers to buy certain consumables, such as home appliances, furniture, laptops, bicycles, etc., and the global supply chain will not improve this year due to shipping delays and shortages of raw materials, which will affect the sales of products such as Christmas, Black Friday, and Cyber ​​Monday this year.

The back-to-school season typically gives retailers insight into consumer shopping patterns, but delta variants have undermined companies’ hopes for a return to normalcy. Melnyk believes that if customers continue to face product shortages, they will approach holiday shopping differently. Given the uncertainty of online orders, more people will shop in physical stores and turn to American-made goods. “Shoppers will focus less on price and more on the availability of the items they want.”

Here's an incomplete list of consumables affected by out-of-stocks, delays and shortages: new clothes, school supplies, bicycles, pet food, paint, furniture, cars, tech gadgets, children's toys, household appliances, lumber, everything that relies on semiconductor chips, and even coveted fast food staples.

Experts say the supply chains that drive the global economy may remain vulnerable to delays until 2022 or 2023, or until much of the world is vaccinated.

Nearly 10 million Americans lose unemployment benefits

Last year, as the United States was experiencing the fastest economic recession in history, the federal government passed the CARES Act in March 2020, which increased unemployment benefits by $600 per week (later increased by $300 per week) and extended the time people could receive aid.

Now, this cash aid has officially expired, and more than 11 million Americans can no longer receive the subsidy, or the amount of the subsidy they receive each week has been reduced. According to foreign media estimates, if the US Congress does not enact new policies, about 8.8 million Americans will completely lose their benefits, and another 3 million or so people will see their weekly aid reduced by $300.

In fact, about 26 states in the United States have ended enhanced unemployment benefits before their expiration dates, and some governors have said that these unemployment benefits are a barrier to Americans returning to work . During the Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment benefits have been an important way for unemployed Americans to pay for rent, food and other necessities.

Oxford Economics estimates that Americans losing federal unemployment benefits helped fill 10.1 million available jobs nationwide .

The U.S. Department of Labor recently released its August jobs report, showing that only 235,000 jobs were created that month - a far cry from the approximately 750,000 jobs that economists had expected. There are still 5.3 million fewer people working than before the pandemic . Before the August jobs report came out, the U.S. Department of Labor released weekly unemployment benefit numbers, which showed that overly generous unemployment benefits were the culprit for the weak labor market. They showed that the number of continuing unemployment benefit applications filed in late August increased by about 60% compared to the beginning of 2020 .  

During the period of unemployment benefits, the American people can get free money just by lying at home, so many people are unwilling to go out to work. In addition, the epidemic situation in the United States is not optimistic, which further discourages people from going out to work.

The editor learned that the U.S. unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points month-on-month to 5.2% in August, but the number of new jobs in the non-agricultural sector was only 235,000, far below expectations.

Against this backdrop , many American business owners have said they cannot find enough workers . Now that unemployment benefits in the United States have been suspended, many Americans will probably go out to look for jobs, which should also ease the employment pressure on American business owners to a certain extent.

The number of dollar stores hits a new high as Americans are "poor"

Now many sellers are concerned about whether Americans still have money and whether they can still spend lavishly during the peak season. The latest data may not be good news for many sellers.

A related survey in the United States shows that the number of dollar stores has reached a new high due to the "poor finances" of the American people. On the one hand, the rapid development of "dollar stores" in the United States is partly caused by the long-term polarization of the economy, and low-income people tend to choose cheaper retail stores; on the other hand, the recent rising inflation rate in the United States has also prompted more consumers to turn to "dollar stores."

According to the latest data released by Coresight Research, a US market research firm , approximately 3,300 stores will open in 2020, and 4,000 are expected to open in 2021. In two years, 7,300 new stores will be added - 3,150 of which, or 43% , will be dollar stores .

So far this year, the three major U.S. dollar stores — Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar — will open more stores than most large retailers.

The three major chains currently operate nearly 33,000 stores in North America (primarily in the United States) , which is more than CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Rite Aid, Albertsons, Aldi, Target and Costco combined.

Dollar General opened 1,000 new stores last year and plans to open 1,050 more in 2021. Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, added about 500 new stores in 2020 and plans to open 600 more this year.

As the peak season arrives, Amazon becomes the first choice for consumers

Although some American consumers are short of money, a large number of people are increasing their online shopping for the peak season , and Amazon is their first choice .

A new Dealaid survey of 1,060 consumers found that 81% of respondents will continue to shop online during the 2021 holiday season due to the coronavirus pandemic .

Survey data also showed that Amazon is the top choice for digital purchases. 79% of respondents who plan to shop online expect to spend the majority of their 2021 holiday shopping budget on Amazon , with Walmart.com ranking second.

Dealaid also asked respondents about their top holiday shopping concerns, with price (51%) topping the list, followed by COVID-19 and inventory availability of items (45% each) . Other top concerns included shipping times (41%) and availability of personal funds (31%).