The supply chain crisis is making holiday shopping more expensive. You have to compete with shopping bots as well.
Shopping bots are software applications that help shoppers by speeding up the checkout process. With the supply-chain crisis hitting the availability of everything from electronics to toys,bot use has become more and more popular with tech-savvy consumers.
Patrick Sullivan, chief technology officer for security strategy at Akamai Technologies, said that people will try to jump the line and use automation to grab anything that has a limited inventory. He said that it used to be concert tickets, then purses and tennis shoes, and now it's vaccine reservations and even more mundane things.
Craig Douglas, an electrical engineer, told the Wall Street Journal that he pays 99 cents a month to subscribe to the Snailbot service, which crawls the Amazon and Walmart websites.
Insider's Shoshy Ciment reported in September that bot makers release a limited number of copies at retail to make it difficult to purchase. When those are sold out, the bots will often resell for thousands of dollars, up from a few hundred dollars at their release.
Forrester said in a report this month that some customers have taken an "if you can't beat them, join them" approach, buying into bot services. "This tactic helps to fund the bots' work and makes it more likely that they will go after desirable merchandise, which will add to the vicious cycle," the consultancy said.
Many retailers are using bot-management solutions to control the situation, but those that don't could be facing angry customers.
Humans buying a hot gaming console may also buy additional controllers and games. Forrester said that retailers that don't block the bots lose out and that frustrated customers who don't get their desired item may never return.
Desperate parents will use bots to get gifts this holiday season.
Douglas told the WSJ that he used his shopping bot to get a PS5 and other toys that were sold out online and in stores near him.
He told the WSJ that it saved Christmas this year.
