How coronavirus impacted our shipping times since February 2020

The rapid spread of coronavirus has had a major impact on global shipping markets including the time it takes for our plushies to ship to you as it travels across the globe. Since February, our teams and offices have had to deal with losses, lockdown restrictions and many more unforeseen problems that unfortunately are out of our control. In this blog, we look at some of the problems that unfolded so far.

At Kawaiies, we are focused on protecting our team, company and the customers we serve during this unprecedented crisis. As a company who values health and wellbeing, we always keep our team members, and customers in mind when making decisions. At the same time, we still want to spread the love with our adorable plushies especially for those looking for a snuggle and/or is feeling lonely and anxious during this uncertain period.

Here are a few problems that have affected our shipping and processing times: 

Sick leave and time off work

Our condolences go out to those who lost a family or friend during this epidemic. At Kawaiies we ensure that our team members who have been directly affected by C-19 are given the option to take time off to rest and recover. As a result, we, unfortunately, have a smaller workforce to process plushies and deal with queries via email and social media messages. We are trying our absolute best to process your plushies and to reply to your inquiries as soon as we can. We have already put processes in place to recruit new staff to join the team and help contribute to the increased workload.

This problem doesn't just affect Kawaiies, it also has a global impact on all businesses and companies whether that's your local supermarket, postal services, hospitals, or police force, the list goes on. Please understand that this problem is out of our hands and be patient with services still working round the clock. 

Anxiety and uncertainty 

As a global society, we are facing an unprecedented time of change and uncertainty. As more cases of coronavirus continue to be announced, we can only expect to see employees experiencing high levels of anxiety around the potential impact of the virus. We have to unite and support those who need it the most by caring for them and sharing actionable steps to protect themselves. A simple conversation and zoom call can go a long way, so take that courageous first step and call your friend, family or colleague. You may be wondering how this may affect shipping and processing times? Well, employees who may worry about catching the coronavirus will want to take time off and stay at home, which in result will lead to a smaller workforce worldwide and slower processing times.

More people are buying online 

According to research firm Technomic, 52% of consumers are avoiding crowds and 32% are leaving their house less often because of coronavirus. As a result, e-commerce order volume has increased by 50% compared to 2019, this surge, combined with disrupted supply chains and shipping lines, has led to an increase in shipping delays. 

Companies worldwide including us are taking, on average, 1.5 days longer to fulfil orders due to a lack of staff and the increase in volume over the past few weeks. These disruptions are a result of our offices in China being shut down in February due to Government restrictions, transportation methods being limited, and social distancing regulations slowing efficiency. Many countries including China, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and states in America were placed on lockdown for over a month and to this day are still in lockdown.

Shipping restrictions & delays

Several articles are addressing the concerns of restrictions on shipping and delays on delivery times as coronavirus continues to spread globally. Unfortunately for us, coronavirus has pushed our shipping times to over 4 weeks and maybe more depending on many factors as we laid out in this blog. The biggest factor to take into consideration is the restrictions placed on shipping lines and the number of flights going to and from China. Fewer flights = fewer parcels being delivered. Tighter restrictions = longer processing times. For these exact reasons, we are unable to provide you with estimates for shipping delays. However, shipping times normally vary from 2 to 4 weeks. The shipping lines from China to countries like Indonesia and the Philippines have had to stop over the past few days, which means we will be unable to ship our plushies out to these countries until further notice.

Find out more about shipping delays below:

1. https://www.nepia.com/industry-news/coronavirus-outbreak-impact-on-shipping/

2. https://www.parcelforce.com/coronavirus

3. https://faq.usps.com/s/article/USPS-Coronavirus-Updates-Expected-Delivery-Changes

4. https://www.royalmail.com/d8/coronavirus-changes-service

Thank you for making it to the end of our blog, we hope we were able to bring some clarity as to how coronavirus has impacted shipping times and costs over the past few weeks. If you have any queries about your tracking information please let us know by sending us an email at info@kawaiies.com. Our support team will do their absolute best to get back to you within 1 business day. We will be publishing a blog soon about tracking information and what each stage means.

Have a lovely week ahead!