Amazon has announced to focus its efforts on the sale of necessary and essential products: here are what they are
Amazon says stop to the sale of products not of first necessity. For a few days now, those who access the e-commerce site will have noticed a big change, especially on electronics, toys, clothes, sports and leisure products: shipments are delayed (even for items that benefit from Prime) and in most cases are shipped by third-party sellers. Amazon has decided to focus its efforts only on products deemed as basic necessities, such as food, health and personal care products.
Already last week, the e-commerce site had changed its approach, prioritizing stock replenishment to only certain goods. Now, however, comes an even more drastic decision: it will only sell and secure expedited shipping for essential goods. The new rules, for the moment, only apply to Italy and France. What is this sudden change due to? Amazon itself explained it: a considerable increase in orders on certain items and the need to take specific measures of distancing within distribution centers, especially in areas where Covid-19 is doing more damage. Here's what's changing for users and what necessities
What necessities can be purchased on Amazon
Focusing shipments only on essential goods that have been in high demand during this stressful period. Amazon has decided to temporarily halt direct sales of products that are not necessities. Case in point. Smartphone e computer sono oramai venduti solamente da negozi di terze parti che curano direttamente anche la spedizione. Spedizione che comunque non è immediata e nella maggior parte dei casi bisogna aspettare almeno una settimana.
Ecco quali sono i prodotti Amazon di prima necessità:
- cibo e generi alimentari;
- cibo e prodotti per animali;
- forniture industriali e scientifiche;
- prodotti e apparecchiature per la salute;
- prodotti per la cura della casa come detersivi e saponi;
- prodotti per la cura della persona;
- prodotti per bambini, come ad esempio i libri.
Amazon, only basic goods: what changes for users
Amazon issued a press note explaining the reasons behind this decision and what will change for users in the coming weeks.
"Just as customers use e-commerce as a useful tool in their social distancing efforts, we have also taken specific distancing measures within our distribution centers so that our employees can work safely. The combination of these two elements requires us to focus our available capacity on the products that have the highest priority and, starting today, we will temporarily stop accepting orders on certain non-essential products on both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr. This decision allows our distribution center employees to focus on receiving and shipping the products that customers need most right now. Customers can still order many of these products from sales partners who ship directly. We understand that this is a change for our sales partners who use Amazon Logistics and we appreciate their understanding at this time when we are prioritizing the products that customers need most."
In addition, Amazon also sent a note to Chinese sellers who use the platform to sell their products in Italy and France: "Effective immediately, Amazon will stop receiving FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) orders from customers on non-essential products on its site in Italy (Amazon.it) and in France (Amazon.fr), so that operations employees can focus on fulfilling and delivering the orders consumers need most now."
What will be the biggest changes for Amazon users in the coming weeks? Definitely a slowdown in shipping for those products considered non-essential. If you try to buy a smartphone, availability is limited (we did a check on some phones and there are two or three available for each model) and shipments happen within seven to ten days, even for those products that benefit from Prime.
This means that Amazon will continue to sell any kind of product, but for those non-essential goods it will rely on third-party sellers who also handle shipping themselves.