Shoppers see a shortage of toilet paper and water again
Costco shoppers may be leaving the store deprived of tissue papers and other essentials amid supply shortages.
Research shows that US consumers are once again stockpiling, just like what happened at the onset of the pandemic emergence. Now consumers are getting all riled up and stocking up on essentials as the fear of the Delta variant spreads. Customers of Costco say some branches are running out of water and toilet paper.
“Costco ran out of toilet paper and paper towels yesterday. It looks like another hoarder episode is about to happen!” one user tweeted.
Costco ran out of toilet paper and paper towels yesterday… looks like another hoarders episode is about to happen!
— Stacey Starstruck (@Ms_Starstruck) August 18, 2021
Twitter is now brimming with complaints from Costco shoppers. They are ranting about the essential products’ shortages and the limit of the products they can buy. Essentials are flying off the shelves like there’s impending doom. The stores placed restrictions during the pandemic to prevent customers from panic buying and hoarding on the essentials.
While others claim the warehouse club was restricting the number of packages of toilet paper each customer can buy, Costco declined to comment, as reported by Insider.
It’s still fresh in everyone’s memory how Costco supplies ran out as members kept buying in bulk at the start of the pandemic in March last year. This is concrete evidence that people think of stockpiling again as Delta variant cases surge in the US.
Costco supplies’ shortages aren’t the only clear reminder of the COVID pandemic’s height in 2020. Last July, Costco planned to cut special senior hours. Last year, it was imposed to allow buyers 60 years old and above, the immunocompromised or disabled persons to shop early without other crowds. Two weeks after Costco announced they are taking off the modified hours. The giant retailer was forced to change this decision as COVID cases soared again due to the new variant.
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Back in July, there were some tweets where customers stated they were thinking of stockpiling on essentials like toilet paper to prepare for a lockdown possibility.
One customer tweeted, “I swung by Costco today to pick up toilet paper! I’m ready for another lockdown.”
What’s surprising is that it wasn’t only the tissue papers running out but also food items. As per a report from Eat This, Not That, there’s a shortage of canned dog food, oils, frozen chicken nuggets, chips, and Costco-brand sauces. It was also noted that Costco Stores imposed a limit purchase of five cases of water.
Inmar Intelligence, an analytics firm, recently surveyed 1,000 adults. The results show that 69% said they would consider re-stocking their supplies of toilet papers, groceries, and essentials as the COVID-19 Delta variant surges.
