Panic buying returns! Americans are once again stockpiling toilet paper

American consumers are once again stockpiling toilet paper, which reminds people of the "toilet paper crisis" in the United States in the spring of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, American consumers are facing the situation of staying at home for a long time, and the demand for toilet paper has soared. This household necessity was difficult to find in offline stores in March and April 2020.

Now, as the Delta variant drives up COVID-19 cases and deaths across the U.S., consumer demand for toilet paper is rebounding. According to The Wall Street Journal, many Americans have used up their previously stockpiled toilet paper stocks, and now some consumers are buying in bulk, with some even clearing out all the toilet paper on the shelves at once.

Image from the Associated Press

The reason for this phenomenon is not only the surge in demand caused by the resurgence of the epidemic, but also the continued labor shortage and global supply chain crisis. Some small retailers said that they also found it difficult to guarantee the inventory of toilet paper due to the shortage of factory workers.

Procter & Gamble, the largest U.S. toilet paper maker, is already struggling to increase production to meet growing demand for toilet paper, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. The company is now running factories 24 hours a day and increasing the speed of its production lines. In addition, the company has limited the amount of product that retailers can buy.

Kimberly-Clark also said it is closely monitoring the situation and working to produce more toilet paper and other essential paper products to best meet consumer needs.

It seems that the "toilet paper crisis" in the United States is about to come again, but the actual situation is not as serious as last time. According to data from market research firm IRI, although the inventory level of toilet paper is lower than the average inventory level of consumer goods, the overall inventory level is still higher than in March 2020.

Americans seem to be very worried about the supply of toilet paper. According to Business Insider, as the Delta variant virus sweeps the world, in addition to toilet paper, the demand of many bathroom supplies suppliers in the United States is also increasing significantly. Sellers can also pay more attention to the situation in related markets. After all, the shortage of daily necessities in offline stores is also a very good opportunity for online sales.

American consumers; toilet paper crisis; American market