Click here to download a pdf of the slides, COVID-19 Impacts on Amazon – Navazon Inc – Presented April 21 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the world’s response to it has touched the lives of most people on the planet, and a worldwide company like Amazon continues to adapt to ensure it place in the e-commerce marketplace. Navazon Inc. has kept up with these changes and provides a weekly update on doing business and succeeding with Amazon in these trying times.
Amazon’s Position
Amazon has hired 175,000 workers since March 17th and continues to strengthen Amazon’s position in online retail, as it is one of the few such businesses to see continued growth in the past month. Even the number of Amazon U.S. Prime members are growing.
The company still has COVID related challenges. Amazon is facing difficulties in France, as their warehouse operations have been severely limited if not halted altogether. They have installed thermal cameras to scan employees for fevers in many warehouses, possibly related to many employees pledging to not work on April 21, which could disrupt operations.
Vendor Business
Some PO’s are leveling out to more accurately reflect customer sales, while drop ship orders are surging with the demand of items Amazon is not holding in their warehouses. This helps prevent out-of-stock notices on detail pages while gaining customer data to help eliminate bumps in future forecasting for when Amazon PO’s stabilize even more across categories.
Born to Run, which had been temporarily shut down, is back open to select vendors and waiving some of the related fees for a set amount of time.
Other waivers are being applied to accounts during this time, such as On-Time Non-Compliance and Down Confirmed, allowing businesses to accept all POs and down-confirm as necessary without repercussions. Other waivers are applicable to certain categories.
Catalog and Advertising
Amazon continues to supply organizations that are dealing with the pandemic and its effects. And because of that priority, some product suppressions continue, requiring a review period of 2-4 business days, depending on the product type.
Some vendors are experiencing catalog issues such as incorrect weights or titles, missing costs, and even unexplained suppressed pages. Keep a close eye on your catalog so you can address these as soon as possible.
While the Gold Box page has been removed on Amazon, with certain deals and coupons stopped, there are still price discounts and promo codes to take advantage of by driving traffic to your detail pages from social media.
Also, Amazon Posts are a newer way to advertise your products that is currently free. These will increase exposure to your products and brands and provide you useful metrics to make this and other advertising more efficient.
If you are experience difficulties in navigating your business through these difficult times, contact a Navazon agent today to find out how we can help.
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