What you need to know
- Amazon is reaching out to third-party sellers ahead of Prime Day.
- Coronavirus could have an impact on product availability ahead of Prime Day.
- Some sellers are reducing promotions to hold inventory for event.
You don't have to look far these days to find something that has been impacted by the Coronavirus. MWC 2020 was cancelled, supply chains are being disrupted, and things don't appear to be getting any better just yet. While it's still early in the year, Amazon is already concerned that the Coronavirus may impact according to a new . The company knows that many of its third-party sellers have parts of their supply chains that are dependent on China, and that this could cause some issues with availability to meet the demand.
Amazon has yet to officially announce when Prime Day will take place this year, though the major shopping event usually kicks off in mid-July. In an effort to avoid disruptions, Amazon is reaching out to some of its larger third-party sellers to see how things are looking well in advance of the event.
The New York Times was able to obtain an email that Amazon sent to one of the sellers, which read:
At this point, it's still very unclear what, if any, impact the Coronavirus may have on Prime Day 2020. Third-party sellers make up about 60% of Amazon's business, so ensuring that everyone is properly stocked and ready for the big event is extremely important at this point.
Some sellers have said that they are already pulling ads and cancelling promotions that they had planned for this year in an effort to keep enough inventory on hand for Prime Day.