As the world social distances to reduce the spread of covid-19, many people are turning to Amazon Prime to help deliver products to their homes. However, due to Amazon’s recent announcement that it would start prioritising delivery of essential items, many less-critical Amazon Prime orders are now seeing shipping delays of up to a month.
The issue started cropping up over the weekend, as many looked to Amazon for things to help entertain or keep themselves occupied as shelter-in-place and self-quarantine mandates have been extended indefinitely. Now, Amazon Prime customers who are accustomed to getting their products deliver in two days or less are seeing delivery estimates on non-essential items as far out as April 21.
In an official statement to Recode, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed that these shipping estimates aren’t the result of a technical error and that “to serve our customers in need 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 prioritise stocking and delivering items that are a higher priority for our customers,” which has “resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual.”
While Amazon’s recent change in shipping priority makes a lot of sense given the times, unfortunately, it’s not always clear which items will be deemed essential or “high-demand products.” It appears even things like an Amazon Basics coffee maker have been lumped in with things like graphics cards and deemed non-essential, with both products not expected to be delivered until the end of April.
With some third-party sellers on Amazon having recently been told that they will not be able to send their goods to Amazon warehouses for fulfillment, this issue may only get worse as current supplies become depleted or delayed.
And while Amazon is hoping to bolster its workforce with 100,000 new employees, with the number of covid-19 cases continuing to rise in the U.S. and Amazon’s continued focus on prioritising shipments of essential goods, it may be a long time before you can order a new gadget, cable, or component on Amazon Prime and get it delivered anytime soon.