Amazon to Suppliers: No Shipments of Non-Essential Goods until April 5

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Amazon announced in a recent blog that it will not only ramp up the hiring of 100,000 new roles to support communities relying on the e-commerce giant for essential supplies, but it is also communicating to its suppliers that it will not accept any shipments of non-essential consumer goods until April 5.

Amazon has made the decision to prioritize food and medical supplies, according to AdAge, while halting shipments of non-essentials consumer products to its warehouses in order to better manage its COVID-19-strained supply chain.

The online retailer will still deliver any products that are purchased by consumers for supplies that are already in stock, but it is asking sellers not to ship anymore non-essential items to its warehouses until April 5 (tentatively). Amazon communicated this message via email to marketers and sellers outlining its new emergency response plan.

“We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock,” Amazon wrote. “With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers.”

“For products other than these, we have temporarily disabled shipment creation,” the email said. “We are taking a similar approach with retail vendors.” [Ad Age received a copy of the email from a marketing executive on condition of anonymity.]

This comes on the heels of its announcement to open new full and part-time positions across the U.S. in its fulfillment centers and delivery network to meet the surge in demand.