We have witnessed a significant increase in lumber price, up to 288% according to Random Lengths. The highest price of lumber over the last 13 years is the result of the serious lumber shortage in 2021. There is no single reason for this problem. Various issues have negative impacts on lumber markets, and eCommerce merchants also suffer from this hardship.
Our article today will provide the reason behind the lumber shortage, how it affects our eCommerce business and how to overcome it.
How To Tackle Lumber Shortage 2021?
Why Is There A Lumber Shortage 2021?
While other kinds of shortages are the results of the relation of supply and demand, lumber shortage is caused by many reasons. Firstly, the widespread deforestation which has caused severe climate change makes the quality and quantities of lumber decrease steeply. Therefore, a little lumber is able for the manufacturers to make use of, leading to the low supply.
Secondly, the Covid-19 has limited and prevented the operation of a lot of factories, all the activities have been procrastinated. Also, the factory cut down on their labor so there are not enough laborers to take part in the lumber-making process, reducing the output quantity.
Thirdly, in the pandemic context, people tend to stay at home and want to upgrade their houses by buying house accessories, constructing more rooms, etc. That leads to the high demand for lumber, which is the essential material for construction.
Last but not least, the large scope of social distancing has reduced logistics productivity. The wholesalers, distributors, suppliers can not contact each other to supply goods and do commercial activities. Then, the eCommerce merchants can not sell anymore and need to wait for a long time for refilling stocks.
How Does Lumber Shortage Impact Your Business?
First and always, the 2021 lumber shortage will make your eCommerce business lose a lot of revenue. Although so many customers want to buy, you can not meet their demand as the warehouses are empty.
Secondly, lumber is a popular input for many other products such as toys, furniture, home accessories, and so on. The lumber deficit can lead to other products shortage. Imagine that a lot of your stocks are unavailable and you don’t know when they are refilled, it is really terrible!
What are the solutions?
Backorder
The best way to gain revenue when you are dealing with the lumber shortage is using backorder. A fabulous solution for your Bigcommerce stores is Backorder. With the pre-setting of Backorder, your products will automatically turn into backorder status when they are out of stock. The customers totally can click on it, put it in their online shopping cart, receive confirmation emails, and wait for the delivery. Try the app out:
Allow customers to purchase even when you have 0 inventory.
This approach gives the buyers certainty that they have already possessed the items anyway and reduces the probability that they come to other stores and buy goods.
Demand Forecasting
To avoid unexpected situations, it would be better for you to prepare for them. To minimize the 2021 lumber shortage, you need to predict the upcoming demand and trends to forecast the extent of lumber needs.
There are several ways to tackle. You can use the clues from the previous quarter selling data, customer behaviors history to estimate how many people may need lumber in the future. Also, you can use some analytics software to help you with this task.
Moreover, there are annual hot sale seasons when the demand for lumber could increase such as New Year, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc., starting to prepare stocks for a long time before those seasons come will help you have enough products to sell.
Conclusion
The lumber shortage is one of the most serious problems for eCommerce merchants to deal with in 2021. We hope you can take advantage of our recommendations to rescue your eCommerce from this crisis, stay productive and gain profits.
