Amazon says that it is prioritizing shipments of medical supplies and household staples, as COVID-19 continues to spread and demand is high.
It has announced that independent sellers will be unable to ship products that aren’t in high-demand to its warehouses until April 5th, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Demand for household staples has gone up as more people are staying home and avoiding physical stores to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Amazon says the change will allow it to quickly receive, restock and ship these products to customers.
The change means that Amazon suppliers and independent sellers won’t be able to send any non-essential products to Amazon warehouses. This means that sellers can’t rely on Amazon to store their products or fulfill orders.
Although sellers will still have the ability to sell their products on Amazon, many small businesses don’t have the physical space or processes to manage these things on their own.
This could lead to supply shortages for non-essential items. However, on the plus side, it means that Amazon is doing what it can to ensure that medical supplies and household items remain stocked.
Source: Wall Street Journal Via: The Verge
