Shopping Woes
About four of 10 Americans say they’re experiencing a higher than usual level of supply chain problems this holiday shopping season…that’s according to a new Monmouth University Poll released earlier this week. And many say they’ve cut down on their shopping as a result.
While we are used to things like gift-giving and traveling topping the list of holiday season stressors…about three in 10 say they feel more holiday stress this year than during pre-pandemic times…and the number of people who say they find the holidays more enjoyable than other times of the year has declined.
The survey of more than 800 people was conducted early this month. Nearly half of us say things being out of stock in the store is happening more often now than in the past, with nearly that many saying items are out of stock online more than in the past.
And despite all the warnings about how we should shop early this year…only 22 percent of us had our shopping done by the start of December…only a third figured they’d have things wrapped up by today, the middle of the month. Monmouth says that timeline is the same as in 2018, long before the pandemic.
The number of us who say the holiday season is more enjoyable than the rest of the year has been steadily declining…from 44 percent in 2015, to 41 percent in 2018, and only 36 percent now. That’s likely because of all the stress tied to shopping, parties, gift giving and the like.
I wonder if more focus was placed on the reason why we celebrated Christmas…and less focus on the Santa Claus part of the season…perhaps people would find it more enjoyable.
