Kruger, a Canadian company, employs 2,500 employees in papermaking and converting plants. Plus, there’s a good chance your toilet paper comes from a Canadian manufacturer. Why then would people then stockpile a product coming from the epicentre of the outbreak? One rumour is that there may be an impending shortage of toilet paper because most of it comes from China.

You think you should use paper towels but you know, toilet paper is cheaper than a lot of other stuff so maybe that's it.'īut there’s difficulty in linking the toilet paper to the pandemic.

'You could use it for wiping surfaces, right? So maybe if it could be used because it's disposable and it's cheap. While stockpiling isn’t new when faced with an uncertain event like a possible pandemic, Hardisty is surprised that one of the items being hoarded is toilet paper. 'It kind of makes sense in that everybody’s looking to get control,' he said. Similar scenes have played out across Asia, Australia and America. 'Social norms are just one of the deepest psychological forces,' he added.Īn unverified video posted to Facebook shows what the user said is a Langley Costco and dozens of shoppers rushing to get their hands on the bathroom tissue. He said it’s similar to when we see people lined up for a restaurant and assume it must be good, and when we see an empty restaurant, we think it’s probably not great. He specializes in behavioural science and marketing. 'Essentially when everybody is buying something, then everybody else sees it’s gone, and they want to get it too,' explained Sauder School of Business assistant professor David Hardisty. That’s because of social norms that guide many of our actions. If you’ve recently visited a Metro Vancouver shop and found empty shelves instead of toilet paper, you’ve probably felt the urge to find some, and quickly. Unless they want to provide an economic stimulus to plumbers.As COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe, there’s a parallel phenomenon: toilet paper stockpiling.

Plus, once the current run ends and shelves are once again fully stocked, hoarded supplies of TP will have little value.Īnd so, Luke concludes, no one should be worried about the toilet paper supply rebounding and people should certainly not resort to wiping with other non-flushable paper products. Toilet paper, as anyone who’s purchased a 30-pack of Kirkland Signature two-ply knows, takes up a lot of space. Worries about continued hoarding of toilet paper are unfounded, Luke writes, because of the physical limitations of holding hundreds of rolls of Angel Soft. You might think that having households add some buffer stock shouldn’t be a big deal, but it was - because that’s how fast TP inventory turns over. That resulted in a “temporary shock to a stable supply chain.”īuying a buffer stock is only a temporary increase in demand. Once you have your buffer, you go back to buying just enough to match usage, keeping the buffer stock in place. People started buying more toilet paper, a “buffer stock” as Luke calls it, after they were told to prepare for more time at home.

Customers usually shop for toilet paper every two weeks or so, buying enough to keep them supplied until their next run to the big box store.īut the COVID-19 outbreak and the calls for social distancing that followed upended that steady flow of buying and restocking. Stores usually stock two or three days worth of inventory. The reason toilet paper shelves are empty, Luke writes, is that it’s typically a product with a very predictable buying pattern. Nor is it something that we need a clinical psychologist to explain. The sound effects sent me to a place I’ve never been 😭🤣🤣🤣⚰️ /rorSOhZsir- 🇧🇧 March 17, 2020īut for all of those worried about where they’ll get their next Charmin fix or considering an experiment with bidets, the economist Jim Luke explains on his blog that empty toilet paper shelves are not a sign that we’re running out. The run on TP around the country has led some stores to limit purchases, resulted in egregious cases of price gouging, and inspired an endless stream of memes. Photo: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesĮmpty store shelves are one of the most visible signs of the panic surrounding the rapidly advancing coronavirus pandemic and few shelves are emptying as quickly as those that typically hold toilet paper.

Toilet paper stockpile