Ok, I should have said they have only low-efficiency, purely reactive high-latency mechanisms to prevent people from buying things.
A store needs to experience a run on merchandise and also (through some other information channel) come to understand that this is actually a bad enough thing to override their normal business imperatives to sell the stuff they have.
Blaming stores for sales they make today makes some sense. Blaming stores for sales they made last week does not.
The stores should be allowed to raise prices in the face of increased demand, but the average voter thinks that is some form of theft. So stores can only implement quantity limits.
A store needs to experience a run on merchandise and also (through some other information channel) come to understand that this is actually a bad enough thing to override their normal business imperatives to sell the stuff they have.
Blaming stores for sales they make today makes some sense. Blaming stores for sales they made last week does not.