According to an annual study by Coupa Business Spend Management, consumers fear pressured budgets due to higher cost of living climb.

Eighty-three percent of supply chain professionals at retailers in the U.S. and U.K. anticipate supply chain disruptions will negatively impact revenue this holiday season – up from 70% in 2022. Retailers anticipate an average revenue loss of about 10%, which during this lucrative selling period could result in billions of dollars lost. 

Key takeaways from this study reveal that 91% fear they will miss hitting holiday sales forecasts, 81% feel pressured family budgets will reduce consumer spending and 77% anticipate product shortages.

Nari Viswanathan, senior director, supply chain strategy at Coupa said: “While I’ve been seeing Christmas decorations cropping up in stores for the last few months, we aren’t even close to the height of the holiday shopping season. Yet our research shows over half of retailers (53%) are already experiencing out-of-stocks on key holiday items.

“If retailers want to avoid empty stockings this year, they must act quickly to capitalize on recent supply chain learnings, what-if scenarios, and rapid response processes to minimize potential disruptions during these critical last months of the year.”

Retailers predict when it comes to product shortages the most impacted goods will be household goods and decor (45%), apparel (41%), and electronics (41%).

Coupa’s survey was conducted across 300 retail supply chain leaders and more than 2,000 consumers in the US and the UK.