Morning Consult, a global decision intelligence company delivering insights and custom market research on what people think in real-time, released its U.S. Supply Chains Report in April 2022. The report evaluated the impact of ongoing supply bottlenecks and rising prices.
In the report, Morning Consult shared that the impact consumers felt over product shortages increased in the last six months. Consumers said they had to delay 41% of their prospective purchases because of product shortages, up from 39% in September 2021.
More retail categories saw improvements in availability, but five categories—groceries and food, housing, paper goods, used vehicles and new vehicles—experienced even more scarcity. The share of adults who reported experiencing purchasing difficulties for these categories has increased since September 2021.
Consumers also perceived that delivery speeds were slower in March compared to February, and the share of online purchasers who reported slower deliveries in March exceeded those who said delivery speeds increased.
As of early April, U.S. adults expected inflation to rise 6.5% over the next year. Baby Boomers are most concerned about rising inflation at 70%, followed by Gen Xers at 63%. Grocery is the category where consumers are predicting the most inflation. The report also found that consumers were more likely to pay higher prices for services or discretionary goods than to buy lower-priced substitutes in March, with gas prices offering the highest sticker shock.
