Cost increases are also expected for massage chairs

Massagesessel Welt Weinstadt, just outside Stuttgart and Leverkusen, is planning with foresight and points out that further price increases are also expected in the massage chair segment.

Zero-COVID policy in Shanghai
Then as now, the coronavirus is affecting production and shipments from Asia. “In Shanghai, a zero-COVID policy is currently being enforced again due to a few positive cases, and the city is locked down. Anyone who is at work in the factory has to stay there until the end of the lockdown,” says Michael Roedeske. But that’s not all—the war in Europe is also having an impact.

Rising Energy and Material Costs
The war in Ukraine has been driving up production and transportation costs on the European market for some time now, particularly in the energy sector. The European Retail Association (HDE) expects a second wave of price increases soon, in the double-digit percentage range. “It’s not just supermarkets that are affected; we, too, are anticipating a price increase of up to 15% for our massage chairs, due in part to higher material costs,” emphasizes Michael Roedeske. The owner and founder of Massagesessel Welt locations in Weinstadt and Leverkusen, had already foreseen by the end of 2021 that supply bottlenecks would impact his business. He prepared his customers for this by advising them to place orders early. “Even now, I don’t want customers who are considering a purchase to be forced to pay more in a few weeks,” he explains. The price increases in the supply chain don’t just affect transportation from the Far East. “The last mile that our products travel on their way to the customer is also affected,” Roedeske is certain.