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Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +4.55% said independent merchants would be unable to ship products other than medical supplies, household staples and other high-demand products to its warehouses until April 5 as the e-commerce giant prioritizes the delivery of these goods during the coronavirus pandemic.
People around the world are turning to online platforms as governments impose new restrictions on movement and prescribe social-distancing measures to limit the spread of the virus. An Amazon spokesperson said the company is seeing increased online shopping, resulting in some products being out of stock.
“We are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers,” the spokesperson said.
Some third-party sellers said this would hurt their business, as they would not be able to rely on Amazon’s logistics network to store new batches of goods and ship to customers for three weeks. The measure could potentially curtail their sales on the platform and lead to shortages of products for customers, some said.
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com
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