Randy Fields
Analyst · D.A. Davidson. Please proceed with your question.
Yes. I can’t – it’s a really good question, but let me give you a couple of examples. These are absolute examples within the last 30 days. We will call to speak to – and remember, we sell quite high inside of an organization. So when we’re calling on our customers, it’s typically somebody in the C-suite or very close to the C-suite. On several occasions that I’m aware of, here’s what we were told, "He’s not in to take your call. He’s in the stores working because we are short staff. So it’s not clear when he’ll be able to get back to you." Literally, there’s such a shortage of – and remember that the horrible position that grocery store workers are put in, they stand all day long – and sure, they have masks and gloves, but zillions of people going in and out. They’re exposed to the virus. It’s not an easy thing. So the absentee rate, the sickness rate is higher than anybody would like, which puts pressure on these companies to get as many people in the field in the stores as they can. It’s – I’ve never seen it like this before. So it does impact – and if the question is, quantification, it’s not years, it’s months. And now as this – the situation seems to be normal, I – God, I hate to use that word, but whatever the word should be. As that’s beginning, we’re seeing it’s easier to get some phone calls and whatnot. It’s just we – – internally, we refer to it as people who are able to now move their attention to other things. The industry as a whole is very thin managerially. It’s always been that way because it’s a low-margin business. Consequently, they can’t handle 5 or 6 or 10 things at a time. It’s sequential. So right now, it’s staffing the stores, stocking the stores, et cetera. And over time, it’s been getting better, and we feel good about that. Not that – it’s not where it was before the pandemic, maybe 1/3 of the way back is probably the best way to put it.