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Will we still be able to get home deliveries of Food, if we are forced into ‘lock down’ like in Italy?

Our social media is still awash with people rushing around Supermarkets building their ‘stock-piles’ of everything from Toilet paper, to hand Soap, to Rice, to Baked Beans.

Empty shelves of some of the most unlikely items are now commonplace.

Already increasing Globally by 20% in the last 2 weeks, it seems many more Australians are now taking to the internet to order their Groceries and other essential items online, in a tendency toward voluntary ‘Social Distancing’ to avoid public places and crowds.

But can our Supermarkets and other Retailers cope with this huge spike in home delivery needs? Or are we soon going to struggle with obtaining basic supplies?

Rob O’Byrne, CEO of Leading Supply Chain Consulting Firm Logistics Bureau, who works with many of Australia’s major brands, tries to be realistic.

“We need to be prepared for a 3-4 Month disruption to our normal buying behaviour” says O’Byrne.

Whilst we’re highly unlikely to run out of essentials, many smaller Australian retailers may struggle to cope with a decline in foot traffic toward increased home delivery preferences. Large scale home delivery operations require a significant infrastructure of vehicles, systems and people. These cannot be ‘turned on’ overnight.

O’Byrne is of the view that should a widespread Pandemic reach Australian shores, leading to the isolation of communities and movement restrictions, then even the Supply Chain for essentials could start to come under severe pressure.

Author and Supply Chain Expert and CEO of the Logistics Bureau Rob O’Byrne, consults to hundreds of leading organisations in Australia and around the World, and has spent 40 years involved in Supply Chain, His clients include many of the major food producers, processors and retailers in Australia.