Closed China ports. Clogged trade routes. Booming global economy. We’re catching up on what we had to do without in the Corona crisis. The product bottlenecks in global supply from the Far East have an impact as far as rich Switzerland.
We no longer get everything we want to buy. In the case of consumption, the higher freight costs will be reflected in higher prices with a delay. What matters more is that not everyone can work the way they want to work. The lack of chips and accessories is already leading to short-time working at the first Swiss auto suppliers.
What could the solution be? It is no longer possible without cheap products. But with less of it. One possibility and at the same time a great opportunity would be to give a second life to more used items. Circulation instead of idling. Reusable instead of disposable. Wherever possible, regionally instead of globally. So Ikea’s decision to force the resale of used products and to put consumers in the cycle is also the right one. More such examples are needed, especially with bulk goods.