The Covid-19 crisis has imposed many changes in lifestyles that even stockpiling for food and other necessities has become a norm for many UK consumers.
Changes in circumstances lead to changes in behavior that is usually spurred by one’s basic instinct of wanting to survive; maybe not for one’s sake but for loved ones. Prior to the ongoing health crisis, most millennials in the UK made changes in the way they shopped for food. There was no need to stockpile since most newly-built homes in the city do not have a walk-in pantry or space provisions for large freezers.
Our Lifestyle Prior to the Covid-19 Health Crisis
Under normal circumstances, it is common for millennial couples to buy food and other essentials from local stores after work. Many are also inclined to buy or rent a home located near their place of work and where schools are accessible by foot or by way of ebikes.
Instead of maintaining a car, we settled for high performance ebikes like quietkat and rambo hunting bikes. We use them not only for commuting daily to work or to school, but also for some occasional shopping at out-of-town malls. Since we enjoy the outdoors, we chose models built strong enough for backcountry camping trips.
Actually we made such changes in order to make our lifestyles fit our economic condition, so we could at least live comfortably and securely, even if not affluently.
Circumstances have once again changed. Now, every citizen has to stay at home to avoid getting infected as well to help the country fight the coronavirus pandemic. People can go out only if to buy food, medicines and other household essentials, to exercise or to report for essential work
Why Stockpiling became Necessary
Shelves at local stores quickly emptied, which made it necessary for us to make longer trips just to buy the things we need. Yet supermarkets also implemented changes to ensure there is a distance of at least 2 meters between shoppers. That also meant shoppers have to fall in line and wait for their turn, until the few who had gained earlier entry are through with their shopping.
However, it was disheartening to see many of the early batch of shoppers buying more than just a week’s supply; loading bags after bags of grocery items in their car. As a result, shoppers like me who had queued midway and for several hours, ended up with few, if no choices at all.
Since that seems to be the way how things go, I had to be wiser next time. In my next trip, I was at the supermarket at least two hours before it opened, just so I could be among the firsts to enter. Just like the others, I too was on a mission to buy as many as I can and load behind the mini trailer attached to my ebike. That way I don’t have to go out often and wait in line for hours just so I could buy our needs.
Personally. I do not approve of hoarding stuff, but UK’s supply system must also change in order to normalise the buying behavior of consumers.
Economics experts are saying that the country is not experiencing shortages. It’s just that the Covid-19 crisis also caught producers and manufacturers off-guard. Most of them produce according to schedules that have been programmed based, more or less, on current average demand. The system prevents them from having large inventories of products sitting in their warehouses and freezers, which could spoil or go to waste if there is little or no demand.
