Why Are So Many Mobility Products On Back Order Right Now?

It started with the shortage of toilet paper if you can recall the first few months of the pandemic in 2020. While the toilet paper shortage was most likely a result of paranoia and fear of future shortages, this was the first real sign of shortages when the pandemic started. Ever since early 2020, items that were easily accessible and in stock are now difficult to purchase without waiting several weeks if not months for the manufacturers to receive a new shipment of products. Pricing has also skyrocketed on items like exercise equipment, real estate, vehicles, and more. Some fear that there is a tipping point that will soon be felt and they fear it could be disastrous.

You can read countless financial articles and posts that go into great detail about how the economy is being affected such as this Yahoo Finance article that explains how global supply chains have never in history been this clogged before. The purpose of this blog post is to inform our customers that this is not just affecting us, it’s affecting ALL mobility equipment retailers. In fact, it’s affecting the ENTIRE ECONOMY. And whether it’s appliances, or micro chips, or chlorine, or single-family homes, just about all of the important things that we need are hard to get right now. We encourage our customers to read the headlines, get educated with what’s going on in the economy so you have a better understanding of why some of the mobility products you may be interested in are hard to get.

Why Are Mobility Scooters Out of Stock Everywhere?

If you’re shopping online and having a hard time getting mobility products because of back orders, that’s because there is an unprecedented supply chain issue that is being caused by the pandemic. What most people don’t realize is that the economy, in general, is being affected in ways that economists would have never dreamed of. The global supply chain is being affected as a whole due to the sheer loss of lives, the lockdowns, and the lack of transportation caused by the pandemic.

When you realize that the product you’re about to purchase is out of stock, you might be inclined to shop around to see if anyone else has it in stock. Especially if you need your mobility product in a hurry, which is perfectly understandable. The problem is that a lot of other dealers will just take your money and not be upfront with you about how long it will take to arrive. What’s worse is that it can take 3 to 5 business days for the money to get back to your account if you decide to cancel after being told your order is not going to ship for several weeks if not months.

At Mobility Direct, if we have a product that is out of stock, our website (in most cases) will have a notification on the checkout page that says the item is on backorder. Someone from our order processing department will also contact you within 1 business day to inform you of the backorder.

Our Orders Get Processed Quickly Once There is a Resupply

Because we’re a high-volume, nationwide dealer, we get the VIP treatment from many of our manufacturing partners. We get accurate updates every week from our manufacturing warehouses letting us know when the next container is going to be in the port and when it will be ready for distribution. You can call any of our sales experts for a shipping estimate on any of our products.

Because of the quality service we provide, our customers are patiently waiting in line to get their products and there is a large list of pre-orders that we are currently monitoring. When the next shipments arrive, many of them sell out the same day because all of the other retailers in the USA have customers pre-orders as well. The difference is that we take our customer satisfaction seriously, and our manufacturing partners know that. This is why they prioritize our customers when the new shipments arrive.

Place Your Pre-Order & Get On The Priority List!

We are the #1 dealer for manufacturers like Afikim and they will put priority on any orders that we process with them to ensure that our customers are taken care of without any hiccups or delays outside of the quoted lead time that our sales team can provide you with. This means that if you place an order, your order will be placed in a priority queue that will be fulfilled on a “first-come-first-serve” basis. If you know you’re going to need your mobility product, your best bet is to place the order so that you can get your product as soon as the next shipment comes in. Our customer service team is constantly available to provide you with shipping status updates and lead time updates via phone, email, or chat.

If you want to be placed on the priority list with a pre-order, call and ask for a sales manager and they will get you the help you need right away. We will provide you with an ETA on the next shipment and update you along the way while shipments make their way to the distribution facilities.

Manufacturing Industry Changes Causing Price Increases

While manufacturers are benefiting from the increase in online shopping, they can’t keep up with the potential of the market increase. Receiving raw materials is harder than ever due to many countries going into lockdown several times per year and the countless loss of lives that lose the battle to covid is making it harder to staff people globally. The cost of raw materials has been skyrocketing ever since the embark of the pandemic and there are no signs of it getting better anytime soon. This is leading to manufacturers being forced to increase their pricing on products which trickles down to the retailers, and then the end consumer (you).

In addition to the increase in raw material costs, and transportation issues on land, importing electronics from ports overseas is possibly the worst part of it all. Due to the COVID variants, ports are shutting down again and there is a huge backflow of ships waiting to enter and leave the port. This may not sound important but we’re talking about huge ships that carry thousands of tons of products and raw materials. If you read this article, you can learn more about the mess that is being caused by the pandemic, it’s very real and very concerning, to say the least. The shipping containers that are used to import products across the Atlantic are now very scarce and the demand has driven the cost for each container to astronomical heights that have never been seen before. Rumors have it that the cost per shipping container is now over 6 times the price regardless of the contents of the container.

In addition to the supply chain disruption caused by COVID, there are other issues that are causing delays on most electronic products. This disruption is caused by the lack of silicon chips and circuit boards that are imported from overseas.