Amazon Announced Limited FBA Shipment Update Amidst COVID-19 outbreak
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On March 17, 2020, Amazon took a giant precautionary step to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 by Limiting the FBA services to Essential Products Only. Looking at the exposed demands of household and medical-related supplies, Amazon has decided to temporarily prioritize the products coming to their fulfillment centers. Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, this might seem the need of the hour, but this is also a huge bummer for Amazon sellers selling under other non-essential categories.
Note: This limitation is only for sellers who have opted Amazon FBA for shipment & delivery and sellers who are following FBM are not affected by this.
When Will This Partial FBA Restriction Come In effect?
The prioritizing of the products will be implemented on all the shipments created after March 17, 2020. In other words, it means that this is already in effect NOW.
Will This Impact Global Amazon Merchants?
NO!! For now, the partial suspension of Amazon FBA Shipping services is limited to the US and European Regions Only.
Is Limited Amazon FBA Shipment A Temporary Thing?
YES!! Amazon has announced that this will be in effect until April 5, 2020. But more likely this date may extend as the global coronavirus outbreak is largely impacting the EU region.
Is this restriction also includes selling other product categories?
NO!! There are NO restrictions for Amazon Sellers to sell their products on the platform. All they need to do is fulfil the shipments by themselves.
What Are The Alternate Ways To Fulfil Orders on Amazon?
Other than Amazon FBA the other ways to fulfil order include:
-
- ShipStation
- StorePep
- Delhivery
- Deliverr
- FlowSpace
- Huboo
- Fulfillment.com
- or you can do it yourself.
Is Limited Amazon FBA Shipment Good for Sellers?
YES and NO!!
Well, it’s a matter of perspective and pure luck.
Let me put it this way – For sellers dealing under the temporarily restricted categories, it is not such good news as they have to deal with the complete delivery and shipment all by themselves. And speaking of sellers who fall under the allowed categories – its a nothing but a flabbergasting opportunity to earn.
There’s an alternative way of looking to this from a perspective of small and medium scale businesses. The partial FBA suspension will be a greater demerit for a small scale business as compared to a well-established business.
But while looking at the bigger picture, Amazon is contributing towards a noble cause.
Which Product Categories Are Still Allowed?
Amazon will continue with the Fulfillment services for the following product categories:
Learn more on what are the top-selling products and categories on Amazon
Difference Between Amazon FBA and FBM?
With Amazon FBA limiting shipment, you must understand the difference between Amazon FBA vs Amazon FBM. Go through this guide on Amazon FBA and FBM for sellers and get all the answers to your questions.
Selling On Amazon Must Never Stop:
Amazon is ready to deal with all kinds of situations and they believe that Selling on Amazon must never Stop. As per an article, Amazon is hiring more than 100,000 people to deal with the increased demands of goods and products during the ongoing crisis of Covid-19.
Amazon quotes – “We are opening 100,000 new full and part-time positions across the U.S. in our fulfillment centers and delivery network to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public.”
Conclusion:
Amazon banning the non-essential shipment is a step in the right direction. Currently, the whole world is facing this horrific pandemic & its effect is now getting reflected in the world of eCommerce as well. This Limited Amazon FBA Shipment might not look favorable for small and mid-scale sellers, but we do believe that this is the best possible thing for the collective good.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the Limited Amazon FBA Shipment Update:
Feel free to comment below.