Newsletter Flashback: Supply chain disruptions during Covid-19

Newsletter Flashback: Supply chain disruptions during Covid-19

Major supply chain disruptions come to the board game industry. Note: This was originally published as an email newsletter on September 14, 2021.

Behind the scenes: Supply chain logistics on hard mode


Watchers of our website’s preorder section have probably noticed that our game arrival estimates have been… slightly inaccurate of late. Our worst offenders have rolled in 5, 6, even 7 months post-release date (looking at you, Monikers).

To be clear, this isn’t meant to be a hit piece; we are 100% certain that this is out of publishers’ control and no one is holding back games on purpose. So what’s going on?

Well, the short answer is that Covid’s ripple effects continue to ripple.

The initial Covid shutdown in March 2020 brought most global shipping to a halt. Products were stuck in factories in China, ships and shipping containers were stuck in North America, and there was minimal back-and-forth traffic to rebalance the two.

“But wait,” you say, “hasn’t it been a year and a half since this all started? Isn’t that enough time to get the boats sailing again?”

Yes… but also no. There are boats on the water, but now demand is even higher - factories kept cranking stuff out even when shipping was slowed, so international freight is working through the original backlog, then the backlog that developed while they were working on that backlog, then the backlog that developed during that backlog… You get the idea.

In a classic case of supply and demand, the lack of shipping capacity means it’s now going to the highest bidder. Trans-oceanic shipping fees are up to 7x higher than normal - and still climbing.

Here’s a tweet from a game publisher back in July 2021:
 

Spare a thought for the indie publishers (and big ones too), watching their games go from modest earnings to major losses.

At this point their choices are to:

  • a) pay exorbitant shipping fees and take a major, possibly unrecoverable financial loss
  • b) wait it out and continue paying storage fees at the factory, shrinking their margin and taking a major reputational hit for delivering product so late
  • c) walk away and abandon their product, eating the sunk costs of production and effectively closing their company


None are good options.

Honestly your whole board game is getting pummeled, top to bottom:

  • Cardboard is in short supply because more online shopping means more shipping in cardboard boxes - which use the same pulp as board games and jigsaw puzzles.
  • Wood is also experiencing a shortage as the industry recovers from Covid-related supply chain disruptions. That cute little meeple? Now it’s going to cost extra.
  • Card sleeves are still struggling back from Covid’s one-two punch of plastic being redirected to PPE and thousands of Millennials rediscovering Pokémon.


So now what?

Well, costs will start going up. So far those increases have been contained within the industry supply chain, being absorbed by publishers and manufacturers, but we’ve been put on notice that the increases will be reaching your friendly local game stores this fall.

We’ve been trying to insulate ourselves from the increases by buying a bunch of stock in advance (plus, you know, Xmas is coming), but that will only stave off the inevitable for a little while.

This, by the way, is becoming part of an annual pattern. In 2020 we opted to start our Xmas buying in August when we saw supply chains start to back up. This year we started Xmas shopping in July. (For reference, in 2019 we started thinking about Xmas in late September and patted ourselves on the backs for being ahead of the game.)

So yeah. State of the industry right there. We’re doing the best we can to keep your favourites in stock, but expect delays and shortages for the next few months or longer. And if you’re planning on giving fun bundles of cardboard, wood, and possibly sleeves this holiday season, you might want to get on that sooner than later.

Anyhoo, if you were wondering why your game is late - there’s your answer.

 

 

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