Amazon Delaying Delivery Of Non-Essential Items Up To A Month

Amazon has confirmed that it's significantly delaying US deliveries of nonessential items, to help get more medical supplies and household staples to its customers during the coronavirus pandemic. Product listings on its website, indicate some of these shipments will be delayed by as much as a month.

Amazon said it has recently started prioritizing shipments of essential items to allow it to stock and ship them faster. Some of the items listed included baby formula, medical supplies, and sanitizers.

The latest move should help the world's largest e-commerce company keep its logistics channels less clogged. It's responding to a huge spike in demand from millions of US residents asked to stay home to prevent the spread of the pathogen.

"To serve our customers while also helping to ensure the safety of our associates, we've changed our logistics, transportation, supply chain, purchasing, and third-party seller processes to prioritize stocking and delivering items that are a higher priority for our customers," an Amazon spokesperson said Monday. "This has resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual."

Amazon is also conducting a hiring blitz of 100,000 more US workers and raising its hourly employees' wages and overtime pay. It also instituted many new measures to keep its warehouse workers and delivery drivers safe.

Some warehouse workers have complained that the company isn't doing enough and have called for more paid time offer and more protective measures.

(CNET)