Supply Challenges Update
I would like to update everyone about our supply situation. As I explained earlier (in this post: https://onlitravel.com/blogs/news/supply-challenges-covid-reality-sets-in) our factory and suppliers have been shut down due to a lockdown in Vietnam caused by the spread of the Delta variant in a largely unvaccinated population, so our stock is running low. This is still true; despite calling back product from some of our distribution channel partners, we have already run out of some products, and others will be out of stock shortly.
It looks like the lockdown will be lifted fairly soon… but, only vaccinated people will be allowed to go back to work… which is about 5% of the population. So, we anticipate a slow re-start, with the very real possibility of additional lockdowns and restrictions, depending on how the pandemic evolves.
We were originally going to try to rush product to meet demand for the Christmas season, but that now looks uncertain, unlikely, and expensive… not to mention the risk of breaking delivery promises to our customers, which we do NOT want to do.
In addition, we are very far along with development of a new product (which has passed through field testing and a second prototype phase), which we are very excited about. Despite the Covid challenges, this is on schedule for a Q1 delivery. So, what to do… refill the old product, or jump to the new product?
Given that even a rush program to refill our current product line wouldn’t assure good availability, we’ve decided to concentrate on the new product, with a Kickstarter introduction (which is, we figure, the best way for a small company like ours to fund a new product launch and get it noticed). So, we’ll be sharing details of the new product shortly, and getting ready for an exciting launch by Q1!
As we run out of current inventory, we’ll let everyone know. Right now, we still have some product available, but we recommend early Christmas shopping for anyone thinking about our bag for the holidays!
More updates coming soon!
Happy Traveling,
Dave and the Onli Travel team