Here at Venture Forge we are closely monitoring the developments of Coronavirus / COVID-19 and its impact on our clients trading on Amazon.
This morning Amazon EU and US have issued an update which includes information on prioritising specific selling categories when taking stock into their warehouses for FBA fulfilment. In effect from today through to April 5th Amazon have temporarily disabled shipment creation on products not in the following categories:
- Baby Products
- Health & Household
- Beauty & Personal Care (including personal care appliances)
- Grocery
- Industrial & Scientific
- Pet Supplies
This does mean you cannot send new stock into Amazon for FBA.
This, however, does not mean that you can’t continue trading on Amazon, all current FBA stock and listings will remain active with customers being able to purchase as normal.
There are also no restrictions on any order fulfilled by FBM (from your own warehouse or logistics partner); these listings and orders will also remain live and active.
These temporary adjustments have been made in order to prioritise household staples, medical supplies and current high-demand products. It is worth noting that any shipments created before March 17, 2020 will be received at fulfilment centres.
Although this is a temporary adjustment (currently until April 5th) there are some recommendations that we at Venture Forge suggest looking at in your business:
- Creating FBM listings from any ASINs that are currently only FBA. This way should your FBA stock run out, your sales will simply move over to being fulfilled by you, from your warehouse.
- Review your inventory; if any products you sell fall into the current accepted list we recommend to send in stock of 3-4 months supply with immediate effect to mitigate any future lockdowns like this from Amazon.
- Review current FBA stock levels, if excess units are showing either create a removal request or destroy these items to prevent further storage fees. It is fair to assume that Amazon may restrict goods out in the future for the same categories so this is a prudent, but not essential, step.
Try to focus on business as usual on your Amazon business. This is likely only to be a temporary measure, will affect every other seller equally, and shouldn’t deviate from your Amazon strategy.
If you’re stuck and need further guidance, we are here to help. Feel free to drop us a line and we’ll do all we can to support you during these uncertain times.