This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51944759
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus: Amazon blocks non-essential items from warehouses | Coronavirus: Amazon blocks non-essential items from warehouses |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Amazon is temporarily refusing to stock certain items in its warehouses, to cope with overwhelming demand for household essentials due to the coronavirus pandemic. | Amazon is temporarily refusing to stock certain items in its warehouses, to cope with overwhelming demand for household essentials due to the coronavirus pandemic. |
| It means third-party sellers of non-essential items could find it difficult to ship orders to customers. | It means third-party sellers of non-essential items could find it difficult to ship orders to customers. |
| The move will last until 5 April and cover warehouses in the US and Europe. | The move will last until 5 April and cover warehouses in the US and Europe. |
| Some items – including many brands of toilet paper – remain out of stock on Amazon’s UK website. | Some items – including many brands of toilet paper – remain out of stock on Amazon’s UK website. |
| The decision to restrict warehouse stocks to household essentials and medical supplies has been met with dismay by some sellers of other products. | The decision to restrict warehouse stocks to household essentials and medical supplies has been met with dismay by some sellers of other products. |
| “My sales just doubled and Amazon halted all my shipments,” said one in a post on discussion site Reddit. | “My sales just doubled and Amazon halted all my shipments,” said one in a post on discussion site Reddit. |
| “This is absolutely crazy,” wrote another – though they added they had been “prepared” for disruption. | “This is absolutely crazy,” wrote another – though they added they had been “prepared” for disruption. |
| Third-party sellers can still list and sell items on Amazon but they would have to carry out packing and shipping of the products themselves. | Third-party sellers can still list and sell items on Amazon but they would have to carry out packing and shipping of the products themselves. |
| Amazon told the BBC: "We are temporarily prioritising household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfilment centres so we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers. We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding." | Amazon told the BBC: "We are temporarily prioritising household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfilment centres so we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers. We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding." |
| Amazon was "doing the right thing", one US-based seller told the BBC. | |
| "Small businesses will hurt because of it and some will completely go bankrupt if the supply chain disruption goes beyond a month," said Samantha Morrison, who sells a range of electrical and computer-related goods via Amazon. | |
| She said it was nonetheless important that Amazon remained able to provide essential items to people in a time of need. | |
| Ms Morrison added that she thought her own business would be minimally impacted as she had enough stock to "weather the storm". |