Committee to elect debbie holmes issued the following announcement on March 17.
As of Tuesday morning, Amazon announced some big (and temporary) changes to its shipment practices due to the coronavirus pandemic, the news of which created a small-scale panic on social media. But Amazon’s move is likely to impact wholesale vendors and small third-party sellers more than the average customers at home. Details are still shaking out, but here is what we know so far.
Amazon is prioritizing the stocking and shipping of high-demand household necessities from its warehouses, including groceries, baby products, health and medical supplies, beauty and personal care items, pet supplies, and industrial and household items amid the coronavirus outbreak, as reported by CNBC. What does this mean in practice? Not too much is likely to change if your order consists of household basics, but the online retail giant’s decisions mark a big change for e-sellers.
While initial reports and social media buzz made it seem like that the company was suspending all deliveries outside of these core household categories, that’s not quite accurate. Instead, Amazon told vendors and third-party, independent merchants that they will only be permitted to ship new, high-demand items (like groceries and baby products) to Amazon’s warehouses until April 5.
These sellers can still sell and ship discretionary items directly to customers if they choose to do so. On short notice, however, that can be quite a challenge for a small business to navigate. For example, not all sellers will have materials, boxes, or enough labor to fulfill their usual rate of orders. Will this lead to a shortage of items that aren’t currently in high demand ? That’s unclear, but it seems possible. Given that Amazon is an absolute giant in the e-commerce space, independent sellers may be at a loss for easy transitions to take their business elsewhere.
If independent sellers may take a financial hit, why go this route? According to Amazon, the move is to ensure it “can more quickly receive, restock and deliver” high-demand “products to customers.” Basically, with so many people (understandably) shifting to online orders, employees can only do so much at a time. Amazon is hiring 100,000 more workers for warehouse and delivery roles to meet this uptick in business, but that’s seemingly not enough to keep everything moving as usual.
A few kinds of independent sellers are impacted by this change, as broken down by Vox. First are wholesale vendors, who generally sell products to Amazon, which are in turn sold to customers by Amazon. The other type of seller works with the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, which allows them to keep products in Amazon’s warehouses. Participating in these programs allows people to sell their items through Amazon’s Prime delivery service, making it pretty desirable for sellers to opt into, as reported by Vice.
What about products already in the fulfillment center? Amazon says it will continue to ship sellers’ inventory that is already at its warehouses. Any shipments started before March 17 will also be honored, so items on their way are still covered, too. This change applies to marketplaces in both the U.S. and Europe as of now.
The biggest takeaway for most people? Remember the people working tirelessly to keep the nation afloat while a pandemic spreads. While many are making efforts to practice social distancing and self-isolate, not everyone is able to work from home. Low-wage workers from various fields are worrying about how to survive not just the coronavirus, but the financial ramifications of this public health crisis. Your grocery and paper towel orders are seemingly safe, but don’t forget about the small, independent businesses that are in your neighborhood and online.
Original source here.
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