Supply chain issues are affecting nearly every industry, as pandemic-era economic strains continue to cause manufacturing slowdowns, port congestion and delivery delays.

Heading into this holiday season, retailers are facing supply-chain disruptions which could limit the availability of clothing, toys, electronics and other goods.

However, thats not the case at Batteries Plus stores, with more than 700 stores in 49 states and 280 franchisees — making it the nation's largest battery retailer. It began putting its Thanksgiving to Christmas contingency plans in place well before the problems hit crisis levels.

"We really have to look at the holiday starting back in April," Scott Williams, CEO of Batteries Plus, told Yahoo Finance on Thursday.

"We started taking a look at what the port's [were] going to look like in the fall after we had early congestion," the executive added.

Williams explained that his company is "needs-based" business. If a customer cracks their phone or needs a car battery replacement, his stores are ready — at times able to outpace internet retailer turnaround, Williams boasted.

"Our customers that go online and do buy online [and] pickup in store, the average pickup time is under five hours," he added."The need for speed is real and that's even faster than internet retailers."

'Four months of inventory'

To minimize stress for consumers, many businesses have been encouraged customers to get a head start on holiday shopping amid widespread supply constraints. This year, however, Batteries Plus, changed their operations to combat these issues.

"We have about four months worth of inventory, which is about 50% higher inventory than we would typically have," said Williams, who said its the company's responsibility to take proactive approaches to help their small business owners during supply chain bottlenecks.

"What we do is we look at buy-ins and to get the inventory out into the market to our local franchise owners," the executive added.

Depending on the item or service, consumers are paying more for just about everything than they did a month ago, largely attributed to COVID-19 era disruptions. Battery prices, for example, have been pushed up due to commodity costs and shipping charges increases.

Yet Batteries Plus' strategy is making sure that they have a "great value proposition" for their customers, and reflect the input costs moving forward.

"We're seeing our consumers value availability as much as price. And so we want to be there for them in the time of need," he added.

Meanwhile, businesses are scrambling to attract workers, and keep them as well. Strategies include raising entry-level wages to at least $15 an hour, offering new benefits and pouring time and resources into recruiting.

Yet despite their efforts, many are struggling to fill open positions and keep their businesses running amid an ongoing labor crisis. Williams said that retaining their current employees was a top Batteries Plus priority.

"We also implement systems where they not only have a base pay, but they have an opportunity for incentives based on much of our product," he told Yahoo Finance. "We talk to our employees about total compensation versus hourly compensation and that's helped us weather the storm."

Despite economic uncertainty and a volatile labor market, the pandemic has led to a surge in franchising. Williams explained that the company has signed 100 new franchise agreements in the last 18 months, which is "record levels" for them, and is expecting to open over 50 franchise locations next year.

While franchising allows a business owner to take less of a risk in starting the company, another big driver has been the partnership with Samsung, according to Williams.

"We're really excited about it to drive people to come into our family," the executive said.

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv

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