Amazon Prime Deliveries Face Month-Long Delays Amid Coronavirus

It seems like it was only yesterday that Amazon announced that it would prioritize essential items in its warehouses. Now, both customers and merchants are reporting delayed Prime deliveries—sometimes as long as a month—on nonessential items amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Amazon Prime deliveries that would typically take one or two days to deliver are now taking anywhere between five days to a month to arrive, according to Recode. This includes products that are “in stock” and eligible for Prime shipping. While some items are marked for delivery by March 31, many are being given a default delivery date of April 21.

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“An Amazon spokesperson confirmed..that the new April 21 delivery dates are not the result of a technical bug or error; they accurately reflect Amazon’s current reality,” reported Recode on Sunday, March 22.

This is the latest concession by Amazon that the spike in online shopping is straining even the most advanced of supply chains. Just six days prior, March 17, Amazon temporarily blocked its FBA services for products outside of six essential categories: baby products; heath and household; beauty and personal care; grocery; industrial and scientific; and pet supplies. A day before that, the retailer announced that it would hire 100,000 new employees to keep its fulfillment centers and delivery network up to snuff. 

The fear for many Amazon FBA sellers who sell “nonessential” items is that delayed shipping times will deter customers from buying their products. On the other hand, sellers that fulfill orders from their own warehouses (or a 3PL) hope to swing buy boxes in their favor by offering faster delivery times.

As buyers are clamoring for their coffee grinders and wifi routers to get them through the next few weeks at home, sellers (and Amazon) are being put to the test. It has yet to be seen whether Amazon will be offering any refunds to both buyers and sellers if delays continue. Stay tuned for any updates.