The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine have at least one thing in common; they\u2019re wreaking havoc on the global supply chain. Between rising inflation, labor shortages, and the inability of production to keep up with commodity demand, it can feel like a terrible time to be in an industry that relies heavily on the global supply chain. What can the pandemic and Russo-Ukrainian War tell us about where the supply chain is headed and more importantly, how can we be prepared to rise to the challenge?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Though the pandemic drastically accelerated trends in e-commerce, consumer practices have been shifting more and more towards digital in the past decade. Working from home caused some additional increase in online retail sales \u2013 which is not at all surprising \u2013 but the growth rate at which certain online services were used was completely unprecedented. Prior to the pandemic, a statistically negligible number of Americans shopped for groceries online. In September of 2021, 64 million American households placed an online grocery order, according to a Brick Meets Click\/Mercatus survey<\/a>. That\u2019s almost half of U.S. households!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, as vaccines were made widely available and consumers returned to brick and mortar stores, e-commerce numbers remained high, indicating that consumers weren\u2019t just shopping online because it was the only option.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, what\u2019s the upshot of this increased online shopping? Thanks to site models like Amazon, consumers want a huge variety of products at their fingertips, but they also want them fast. This forces distribution centers to carry a much wider variety of SKUs, while maintaining the most efficient possible picking processes. A tall order to be sure!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The impact of the pandemic on supply chains is clear, but what is Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine doing to the global economy?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On one hand, there are direct consequences. Ukraine is one of the world\u2019s major suppliers of corn, wheat, barley, and rye, and exports from Ukraine have all but ceased, partially due to Russian blockades of major Ukrainian shipping ports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, and probably even more economically damaging, there are indirect consequences. Russian sanctions and counter-sanctions have radically altered the availability of resources and technology. The most tangible impact of these sanctions is one we\u2019ve all felt \u2013 rising gas prices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Covid-19 Ripple Effect<\/h2>\n
Russia’s Invasion And The Global Economy<\/h2>\n
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