The situation with the coronavirus outbreak seems to be getting more and more dire as the days pass. It seems that no one is safe from the fallout of this pandemic, even Amazon Sellers. If last week’s news about Amazon suspending ‘non-essential’ inventory shipments until April has got you worried, we want to go over somethings that may help ease your nerves.
Since a vast majority of people are now spending most of their time at home, there has been a massive increase in online shopping. This is happening for a number of reasons. First, governments have asked people to practice ‘social distancing’ along with reducing any activities outside of their homes that are not essential (grocery shopping, picking up medication, doctor’s appointments, caring for relatives, etc.). By limiting interaction with other people, the goal is to keep community transmission of the coronavirus to a minimum. Since people cannot go shop at stores, or stores are out of what they need, people are turning to shopping online so they don’t have to leave their homes and/or because they haven’t been able to find what they need in stores.
Many stores have closed their physical locations completely. Some companies made this decision before any orders were given by government officials. I’m sure you’ve received a bunch of emails from companies detailing their actions to minimize potential transmission and keep their employees and customers safe. Stores that have been allowed to stay open because they are essential, like grocery stores, big box stores, and drug stores, have also enacted changes to do what they can to protect customers and employees. This includes shortening hours to give employees time to sanitize stores and restock shelves, offering special shopping times for high-risk groups like the elderly and immuno-compromised people, and having employees clean throughout the day. Delivery services from the stores that are still open have been overwhelmed and people are having to wait weeks in some cases to schedule deliveries.
Because most stores have had to close or are constantly out of stock of items, people have turned to online shopping, and of course Amazon, to do their shopping. As we stated in our last post, Amazon is currently prioritizing ‘essential’ items for shipping out orders and receiving in new inventory from sellers. But even with this shift by Amazon for at least the next three weeks, across all sellers we work with here at Sellozo we are seeing an increase in both sales and demand. This is the best news for sellers who are trepidatious about the outlook for their Amazon business. The combination of stores being closed and an increase in online shopping has given Amazon Sellers a chance to step in an fill the holes in customer needs.
The other good thing about being an Amazon Seller during this time of crisis is that Amazon is probably the company best-suited to overcome these dire times. The likelihood of Amazon being hit as hard as other companies by the consequences of the coronavirus is minimal. Amazon has proven to be an important player in our society and this situation we find ourselves in further illustrates that point. So sellers can rest easy knowing that Amazon is not likely to shut down because of this pandemic. Their warehouses have been deemed essential and will remain open to help get people items they need.
Amazon announced it is hiring 100,000 workers to help with the huge uptick in demand. It is also giving workers a $2/hour raise.
As we mentioned before, sellers are still able to fulfill Amazon orders themselves while Amazon focuses on essential products. Along with that, if you have plenty of inventory already with Amazon, customers can still purchase your products (though there may be a delay in their order shipping from Amazon). We are recommending sellers who fall in either or both of these categories continue to run optimized Amazon advertising campaigns. Backing off on your advertising on Amazon can lead to your sales ranking dropping, which can be difficult and/or expensive to regain. Sellozo is still up and running, with our team working from home throughout the Kansas City area, to make sure sellers have the best chance possible to keep their sales up through automated and optimized ad campaigns.
You always reach our Support Team at Support@Sellozo.com with any questions or concerns. We’re here for you and we will get through this together!