My employer sells online and thru multiple B&M stores. What I've noticed this year is that the B&M stores are making money hand-over-fist and they are having to restock every other day to keep up with demand. Online sales, however, are flat. I guess buyers learned something from the last 18 months of USPS not being able to keep up with demand and have decided to 'shop local' and make sure they physically have their gifts in hand and in the condition they want the moment they pay for it. No waiting for the seller to ship. No waiting on the carrier to deliver. No worries about porch-pirates and mailbox marauders. Just an afternoon out shopping and then there's nothing left but the wrapping!
If you want to be really cynical, you could blame it on the Federal Government for stopping those additional checks for people who decided it was more profitable to stay unemployed than to get back out there and work. I didn't have that luxury - our stores were deemed "essential" due to what we sell, so we all got to work thru the pandemic. And the few folks who did apply for the positions we needed to fill either wanted way too much money for the job, or they worked just long enough to renew their unemployment eligibility and get back on the dole.
It's going to be quite a while yet before things find a new 'normal', and I doubt it will be exactly like the old normal. I'm just praying they don't muck up my SSI before I can start to collect!
-Bob.
