‘The sooner the better:’ Area expert recommends to holiday shoppers as supply chain issues continue

DAYTON — The holiday shopping season has just started by an area supply chain expert says if you’re trying to order that big ticket item or something in high-demand, the clock is ticking to make sure you receive it on time.

>>Toy shortages, supply chain among reasons to start holiday shopping now, experts say

Monday was Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. But continued labor shortages and supply chain backlogs could impact the items in your cart and when they make it to your home.

John LeBlanc, a professor at Cedarville University, spent decades running manufacturing facilities across the Midwest before coming to Cedarville to teach management. LeBlanc said backlogs, like the ones still at the ports near Los Angeles, are still leading to some product shortages here in the Miami Valley.

“For instance, Best Buy, there are no iPhone 13 Pro Max’s anywhere in the entire area and they don’t know if they’ll get them next month. Because they’re sitting on a shelf in Los Angeles,” LeBlanc told News Center 7′s John Bedell Tuesday.

But its not just high-demand technology items that are subject to the supply chain issues, LeBlanc said.

“It just depends on the item, exactly. So you know, you still have, what, 100 ships out there loaded with 1,000 containers each? And unless you can get them off the ship, off the port, out of the distribution center, to the customer, you’re just stuck.”

LeBlanc said the best way to make sure those items you want arrive on time is to order as early as possible and don’t procrastinate.

“The sooner the better. And especially high-priority items. You know if there’s a high-run on toys or different products, then you could be in trouble. And you may just have to put a picture in the box and say, ‘it’ll come later.’”

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