Strikes, supply-chain snags, and the election throws curveballs at brands preparing for the holiday rush

Out of toilet paper? For a few days there, you might have had a hard time finding some at a store.

Consumers panic-bought toilet paper and other goods at retailers like Costco and Walmart after the dockworkers strike earlier this month. While the strike lasted only three days, it threw yet another curveball at brands that ship goods and import items from overseas for production ahead of what is projected to be a busy holiday season.

Even before the shutdown, supply chains and delivery infrastructure had already been facing increasing pressure, thanks to everything from geopolitical tensions to an influx of packages from Shein and Temu. And that’s not the only challenge brands are grappling with. Thanks to the fast-approaching US presidential election, some brands anticipate increasing ad rates, creating an additional layer of complexity when it comes to marketing their wares.

With a holiday season that is expected to see $240.8 billion in domestic online retail sales alone, according to Adobe Analytics, brands are adjusting their production and marketing strategies accordingly.

“We’re definitely in preparation mode for all of these supply-chain issues,” Kristin Olszewski, founder and CEO of Nomadica Wine, told us.

Back to the drawing board

Even ahead of the strike, concerns about importing products into the US were already having an impact, Scott Ketchum, co-founder and CEO at Sfoglini Pasta, said. The brand imports a substantial amount of wheat from Italy, and he said that he started to see delays on those shipments beginning in mid-September.

Sfoglini has turned to more domestic providers in an effort to keep up, but concerns about the strike meant that organic semolina flour, which it relies on to make its pasta, was difficult to come by, Ketchum told us in early October, in the middle of the strike. More than a week later, he said in an email that “not much has changed.”

“All the new orders I placed in late September will not start delivering until the end of October,” he told us.

The non-alcoholic beverage brand Casamara Club is looking to get ahead of concerns about product availability and being able to ship them to customers, Jason LaValla, the brand’s founder and club president, told us. If there’s a surge of demand for the brand’s products around the holidays, which could happen if products go viral or get positive press attention, LaValla said he hopes to be prepared: Casamara is producing extra packaging for its products ahead of time this year to avoid long fulfillment times, he said.

Nomadica Wine, similarly, is beefing up its inventory early in an effort to get ahead of any potential snags, Olszewski said.

The stakes are high. “[We are] making sure that if something like that happens during the holidays, we are ready, because if we get taken out of stock during the holidays, it will then actually take twice as long…to build that inventory back up,” LaValla said.

Red, white, and blue

As brands navigate supply-chain challenges, they are also keeping a close eye on the election, which is only a few weeks away, and its potential effects on digital ad rates, Olszewski told us.

The election comes right around the time that the brand would normally boost its ad spend to get in front of consumers before the holidays, Olszewski said, but that could change this year.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if digital ad costs are absurd, so we might hold back our spend and wait until after the election to start ramping up,” Olszewski said.

Publicis agency Razorfish has been advising brands to be mindful of external factors, whether that is election effects or potential supply-chain challenges, David MacDonald, head of Razorfish’s retail and commerce experience practice, said.

“This is an election year, so in certain states, you’re going to be competing in the news cycle, in the media cycle, against the election pieces,” MacDonald told us. Some brands, he added, started earlier this year, like Spirit Halloween, which opened its retail locations nearly three months before Halloween, and which plans to open “Spirit Christmas” stores ahead of the winter holiday.

Sfoglini is sticking with its Instagram-heavy advertising budget and is favoring gift-based creative for now, Ketchum said. Casamara is also leaning heavily on Meta platforms like Instagram, as well as activations at events like gallery openings, but LaValla acknowledged the challenge of not knowing what could be coming next. “You just never know [about] these external factors that could come in,” he said.

Razorfish is also advising clients on ways to be nimble in their marketing as the holidays approach, MacDonald said.

“What we’re saying is, [as] you get closer to Christmas, you may want to pivot your marketing to also [encourage] pickup in-store,” MacDonald told us. “Right now, you can focus on e-commerce. As you get closer, you can start pivoting that message…so the customer who needs something can still get it.”

Doing so can help brands be “not just focused on the e-commerce piece of it,” he said, and can also help protect against shipping delays that could be a factor this holiday season.

“No one wants to be the Grinch who couldn’t deliver the product on Christmas,” he said.