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Education
CoverStory

StreetSmarts SM

SHARING WISDOM
SHARING WISDOM

WITH JEFF FORTNEY WITH JEFF FORTNEY

Lasting, accelerated change

in consumer behavior

By Jeff Fortney The wide-ranging impact of lockdowns
Signature Payments Lockdowns, which took place to varying degrees across
the country and around the world, didn't just impact us
I knew this would happen one day!" my wife as payment professionals and merchants as our partners;
exclaimed as we watched the news reports in the it impacted all of us as consumers. Hoarding toilet paper
spring of 2020 on shopping carts overflowing with was just the beginning, as people struggled to address
" toilet paper. I had expected her comment, for, you major, unplanned, frightening life changes. Remember
see, my wife has been a hoarder since the 1980s. the run on mac and cheese and then on frozen cheese
pizzas? There was also a shortage of hand sanitizer, so
Now, maybe calling her a hoarder is a bit strong, for it's some people made their own using recipes they found
only toilet paper that she has obsessed about stocking. online.
She's never been inclined to overstock other items, but
when it comes to the toilet paper supply, "hoarder" clearly Lysol became scarce, too, after it was determined that,
fits. when applied to surfaces, it killed SARS-CoV-2, the virus
that causes COVID-19.
This became evident when packing for our move three
years ago. My youngest son decided to identify the total Yes, it seemed the shelves for many products we usually
number of rolls stashed here and there. He found them on take for granted were always empty. A friend of mine is
shelves and behind suitcases in closets. He found them an assistant manager at a local Walmart, and he would
inside of suitcases. By the time he stopped counting, he get phone calls asking the date and time shipments of
was up to 50 rolls, and there were still others. paper products would arrive, so callers could show up
and get their allotted two packages each. Others turned to
The upside to this is when the paper panic started, our home supply and office supply stores that, unbeknownst
progeny all knew they could rely on Mom to supply them to most, carried paper and cleaning products. Rather
with all the rolls they needed. They didn't have to join the than shop around, once consumers located a store with
throngs loading up on paper at supermarkets, they had a a supply of what they needed, they would call in their
hook up. orders to that store and do curbside pickup.

Many shoppers discovered the ease of scheduled toilet
paper deliveries through Amazon and other online

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