> Panic buying of paper towels early on in the pandemic, as an example, was not predictable.
What? It was entirely predictable, except maybe for those high-end executives who live in hotels and/or with full-time house service, and are thus completely detached from life of ordinary people.
The panic buying was limited to the most obvious category of goods: basic consumables with some degree of shelf life, prioritized by survival and then comfort. This means food (particularly canned, shelf-stable, or freezable - plus baby food and pet food - and ingredients, including flour, yeast and baking soda), hygiene (soap, toilet paper!, and - perhaps specific to pandemic - hand sanitizers and masks), fuel, household cleaning (including cleaning agents and, surprise surprise, paper towels), comfort consumables (coffee).
It's not hindsight on my part - think of how people individually decided what to buy. They didn't buy whatever they see everyone else buying. They just asked themselves: what do I eat? How do I keep myself and the household clean? What else do I buy on a regular basis? What do I need to maintain a semblance of my current lifestyle? The answers, prioritized, were what everyone then went to stock up on.
What? It was entirely predictable, except maybe for those high-end executives who live in hotels and/or with full-time house service, and are thus completely detached from life of ordinary people.
The panic buying was limited to the most obvious category of goods: basic consumables with some degree of shelf life, prioritized by survival and then comfort. This means food (particularly canned, shelf-stable, or freezable - plus baby food and pet food - and ingredients, including flour, yeast and baking soda), hygiene (soap, toilet paper!, and - perhaps specific to pandemic - hand sanitizers and masks), fuel, household cleaning (including cleaning agents and, surprise surprise, paper towels), comfort consumables (coffee).
It's not hindsight on my part - think of how people individually decided what to buy. They didn't buy whatever they see everyone else buying. They just asked themselves: what do I eat? How do I keep myself and the household clean? What else do I buy on a regular basis? What do I need to maintain a semblance of my current lifestyle? The answers, prioritized, were what everyone then went to stock up on.