Kbb retailers are “incredibly” busy said managing director of buying group KBBG Bill Miller but reported it has led to them struggling to cope with customer enquiries.

He said one of his members had more enquiries in two weeks than for the whole of last year.

However, Miller said it had seen some kbb retailers unable to meet the spike in consumer enquiries, having gone through periods of lockdown and having to reduce staff levels accordingly.

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Being inundated with enquiries, Miller said it was proving difficult for retailers to get back to consumers in the “golden time period” of a week with the first design concept.

He said the KBBG was offering retailers the opportunities to work with third parties, including one of its retail with extra design capacity and a high-end London retailer who has set up his own outsourced design with a team in India.

Miller pointed out the increased demand of enquiries was the first issue with a bottle neck of work, but then retailers could expect challenges around supply and finally installation.

He said it may mean consumers may face a wait for the availability of fitters “but then the chances are, that same client may have to wait a little bit longer for their products to be available because of the potential of the shortage of supply.”

And he stated he had a fear the situation with supply was “going to get worse before it gets better” but Miller did state retailers were better prepared than last year.

He said retailers were having conversations with their clients about the situation, placing orders earlier for appliances and building in more flexibility with brand options.

Although having hopes the appliance supply issues won’t be as pronounced as last year, Miller did suggest it could be some time before stock levels return.

Despite the industry having been through a challenging time, Miller said throughout the period new kbb businesses were opening and established retailers were expanding which was “heart warming”.