The Coronavirus is affecting more and more countries around the world every day, resulting in many governments recommending that citizens stay at home and not go out unnecessarily. Thus, a large percentage of people have taken care to equip themselves with supplies, mainly household items, to get through the days of quarantine. This has caused numerous problems, one of which is the depletion of stocks of everyday products and objects. Specifically, Amazon announced that all popular household items have been sold out, amid the frenzy caused by the Coronavirus.
Amazon said this was due to the dramatic increase in the rate at which people shop online. Some popular brands and household staples were sold out, while orders for home delivery were at an all-time high, which is having an impact on how the company serves its customers. Amazon employees are working around the clock to ensure that all of the company's products are available and that all orders are being fulfilled in the best possible way.
Amazon also noted that inventory and delivery of items may be temporarily unavailable due to increased demand, urging customers to confirm availability before completing their order. A quick scan of high-demand items, such as toilet paper and bottled water, showed that many of them were out of stock. In addition, Amazon's deliveries of items that normally take 1-2 days are now delayed by several days. For example, after adding an item to your cart, Amazon says that the order will be delivered within four days.
The move reflects the disruption the coronavirus has caused to Amazon's online ordering and home delivery system . The company has more than 150 million registered members worldwide, and Amazon recently increased the speed of delivery of orders, as they were made the same day or the next, spending $1.5 billion during last year's holiday season to expand services .
Amazon is facing increased customer demand on multiple fronts amid the coronavirus pandemic. In online shopping, services like Prime Now and Amazon's Fresh grocery delivery service have reported limited availability for several days or said they could not deliver.
In addition, the increased demand caused by the pandemic is posing administrative challenges for Amazon. The company is working to avoid disruptions to its supply chain, while some factories in China and elsewhere remain offline.
Additionally, some customer service center employees may not show up for work. Earlier this month, Amazon relaxed its warehouse worker attendance policy, allowing them to skip work, without pay, for as long as they want through March.
The company also took more protective measures in view of the Coronavirus, increasing the frequency and intensity of cleaning at all facilities and requiring employees to disinfect and clean their work areas and vehicles at the beginning and end of each shift.
Finally, it is worth noting that as of Sunday afternoon, there have been over 156,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus worldwide and at least 5,833 deaths from the virus, while in the US , at least 2,952 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and at least 57 deaths have been recorded.
