Covid Logistics, the never ending story…

What a year it’s been, not only with the pandemic at home, but across the entire global economy. Quite literally, it hasn’t been plain sailing.

As you might have noticed over the past couple of years, there has been ever increasing delays in shipping, not only of the finished products we buy and love, but of the very materials needed to build things.

For us at Casa Bella it’s been a two part problem, as our partners in India have face an unprecedented level of disruption to their lives due to Covid-19, with at times up to 200,000 cases being reported a day, which, in a country with very low testing figures doesn’t even scratch the surface. In addition to the rising amount of cases, India, like the UK faced its own period of lockdowns, much harsher lockdowns than we endured, and so when we were able to start importing again, we found it a much longer lead time as products had to be built first.

Of course it’s not all been about Covid, globally logistics has been hit drastically too, many container ships were left in ports around the world and simply were not available in the places they needed to be, this led to a need for a fast return to Indian ports however most shipping companies can’t afford empty journeys, so the transport deficit grew yet further.

Finally after shipping issues, without even mentioning the emotional distress of the Suez Canal blockage, we come to the backlog of containers in Calais and Dover as, between Brexit red tape and a critical shortage of lorry drivers it just takes longer at every stage of the journey.

This leads to longer lead times, and much higher shipping costs across the board.

However, this is more our problem, and rather than deliver excuses, we want to deliver solutions, and your furniture!

We have increased our predicted lead times, meaning that it’s a pleasant surprise if it comes earlier, but with a more realistic estimate. As well as keeping you informed of any unexpected delays.

We are also keeping a greater amount of stock in house, after being lucky enough to move to a larger premises during lockdown we are taking full advantage of the larger warehouse to try and keep ahead of any delays by keeping as much on hand as possible, in addition to always fighting to be more cost effective at sourcing the highest quality products for you.

We have also continued to increase our flexibility with deliveries, increasing our frequency and drivers. Ensuring that not only are we able to deliver more, but also continue to work around you as life goes back to normal.

As always we will try to keep you as up to date as possible with all stages of your order. But we always welcome any feedback on your experience with us, from window shopping to receiving your new items, our greatest pleasure is ensuring the customer experience is second to none.

Our team are so grateful for your patience through this time, and we can’t wait to continue our journey with you.