Amazon Resumes Shipping of Nonessential Items – Next Steps For Vendors and Sellers
After three weeks of prioritizing products for FBA, Amazon announced on Monday it will allow sellers of nonessential Items to resume shipping.
Read on for more information about this developing story.
What Does This Mean For Vendors & Sellers?
“The key component of this change is they will be limiting quantities based on space availability. Although not explicitly said, it can be assumed Amazon will allow ASINs that have high traffic and are therefore showing need. Advertising can play a key role in this part of the equation by driving traffic to ASINs Amazon has sufficient inventory levels currently on hand.”
– Eric Kauss, Director, Marketplaces Operations at Tinuiti
Why did Amazon prioritize products for FBA?
In March, Amazon said it would be temporarily prioritizing products coming into their fulfillment centers (FBA). Although the list of prioritized products for FBA has expanded since the initial announcement.
According to reports, starting later this week, Amazon will begin to accept more products in its warehouses, after “temporarily prioritizing” household staples, medical supplies and other essential product categories in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the next steps?
According to Kauss, right now vendors and sellers need to execute hardcore planning to make sure they are ready for Prime Day and Q4.
“If they haven’t done the work in advance, they are going to find themselves behind the eight-ball. Vendors and sellers should understand their inventory position (as it stands today) and make plans for when business returns to some semblance of ‘normal’. The key will be to drive traffic to the top ASINs where there is ample inventory to restart the PO algorithm to generate future POs.”
“For vendors and sellers producing non-essential products overseas and have not received product order, inventory planning needs to be discussed now vs. later to prevent any critical supply chain issues. My recommendation is to partner with an agency who can help you better understand Amazon’s inventory forecast, and how to use any excess to your advantage, so you can place product production orders in advance and be prepared for Prime Day as well as Q4 holiday sales.”
Got questions about your current inventory levels and how to prepare? Our experts are available! Drop us a line here. We will continue to keep you updated as this story develops.
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