Handling the hassles of holiday shopping

Lindner College of Business professor Sachin Modi joined the discussion to explain the impact of shipping delays. “This is a time where there is a huge amount of volume of goods that has to move,” he said. Modi, head of the department of operations, business analytics and information systems (OBAIS), explained that given recent flight groundings, there may have to be more expedited delivery flights as the holiday shopping season amps up. Many online retailers advertise dates to order by to ensure gifts arrive on time. “What that means for a lot of consumers, though, is to make sure that they get their orders in for their online shopping that they do well before the deadlines,” Modi said.

He also touched on the impact of tariffs on holiday shipments. “Order quantities may have gone down, but more importantly costs have gone up. So, what a lot of consumers might see on the shelves right now is prices that are just a little bit higher than they would have been otherwise,” Modi said, which can be a challenge for value-conscious consumers.

Many small businesses order ahead for the holiday season anyways, but can get stuck at trying to meet the price point of their customers. “That really is one of the things that affects our local businesses a lot because they have to raise their prices,” he said. 

“A lot more people are shopping online, and that does increase the tendency to wait,” Modi said. He cautioned shoppers to check the country of origin before purchasing online so delays can be anticipated, and suggested taking advantage of newly-offered AI tools on shopping sites.

Hear the full conversation on Cincinnati Edition.