Retail shopping, both in store and online, has increased significantly following the pandemic, and the well documented shipping disruptions have affected all industries and businesses.

Production in China continues to be hit hard. Disruptions and delays have been caused by Covid outbreaks, working restrictions due to power outages, as well as shipping having to battling typhoons.

But the biggest issue for consumers now is the pressure on the supply chain. China is facing a bottleneck. At times over 50 – 75 ships are waiting to dock, with each ship carrying approximately 10,000 -15,000 containers.

As the demand has increased in the West, there has been a severe shortage of containers to meet this need. As a result, the cost of containers has almost quadrupled.

Worcester News: Enjoy new furniture from Cousins in your home for Christmas. Enjoy new furniture from Cousins in your home for Christmas. The situation worsened when the Suez Canal became blocked, and the delays from this impact have still not been caught up to. Consequently, the length of time to ship from China has doubled over the past year.

The situation is bad across the globe. Within the UK, the lack of truck drivers lead to the recent fuel buying panic. It is also impacting capacities on being able to internally transfer freight from UK ports to warehouses.

In the furniture industry, many UK suppliers closed their pre-Christmas books as early as August this year due to extreme demand, to help meet consumer expectations.

As Christmas approaches, many consumers may be thinking about treating themselves to a new mattress or comfy sofa, or buying a large, extendable dining table for the family season. If you’re following the news and worrying about the extended lead times, then this would be a good time to visit Cousins Furniture as they begin to prepare for their big stock deal event, where they have large stocks available for quick delivery.

Exciting new developments, warehouse expansion and major store refurbishments mean that Cousins urgently need to clear huge stocks of living, dining and bedroom furniture, plus accessories and flooring at unbelievably low prices.

Everything has been reduced to a fraction of its normal cost, plus there will be huge discounts off all special made-to-order items, and many one off bargains. It’s best to come early to get the best deals.

Millions of pounds worth of sofas, chairs, beds, dining, bedroom, office and occasional furniture plus accessories, flooring and rugs, including all of the leading brand names, are available in Cousins massive stock clearance event.

Many pieces of furniture will be available for express delivery. They have four destination showrooms across the Midlands, so you can view the collections in person and even take them away with you on the same day!

So, you can still enjoy new furniture in your home for Christmas.