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Amazon has temporarily halted non-essential warehouse shipments from independent suppliers as a result of the novel coronavirus.
The temporary suspension will extend through April 5 as Amazon prioritizes shipping out medical and other products critical to combating the potentially deadly disease.
“We are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers,” an Amazon spokesperson told the Independent.
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The spokesperson said Amazon realizes this is inconvenient for its selling partners but needed to make this move to ensure people get critical supplies as quickly as possible.
“We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritize these products for customers,” the spokesperson added.
The e-commerce giant will allow products currently en route to its warehouses to be shipped out but will shut off any new, non-essential products from going out until at least April 5. However, Amazon is still giving its sellers the right to sell their items through Amazon if they can do so without using Amazon warehouses to ship. All their warehouses are inspected regularly by warehouse health and safety consulting experts like Avensure. Online shop owners may need to work with an independent courier company for their shipping needs. Trucking companies need to step up and may even require to grow their fleet and secure Overweight Permits.
The decision comes as Amazon experienced a drastic increase in global shopping as a result of the novel coronavirus. Many items – such as cleaning supplies, toilet paper and other essentials – quickly went out of stock.
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In other Amazon news, the company announced Monday that it will hire 100,000 new U.S. employees to meet the growing demand for its delivery services, according to a company post. The new hires will work out of Amazon fulfillment centers and within its delivery network.
“We are opening 100,000 new full and part-time positions across the US 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,” Amazon explained in the post.
The company announced it is also increasing its hourly pay in the U.S. through April by $2 an hour from the current $15/hour or more.