Eager consumers likely are aware that Monday is Amazon Prime Day – some circle the date as they would birthdays – and are ready to put those delivery trucks in motion.
For the Amazon sellers, though, life isn’t so carefree.
The pandemic effects have come home to roost on the global supply chain, as businesses are painfully aware, and consumer demand has largely outstripped the resources necessary to fill orders.
A CNBC story illustrated a few of the challenges associated with supply-chain issues as the big day arrives.
An online freight marketplace company, Freightos, reported three out of four businesses (out of the 177 respondents) are experiencing supply chain trouble – and almost 50 percent say they expect to experience inventory shortages on Monday.
“People may plan for Prime Day months in advance, but most sellers… don’t have the cash to bring in the inventory three months before,” Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber said in the CNBC story.
“They’ve got to pay for the inventory and then they’ve got to pay for the storage and they’re all working with slim margins. Now, with the shipping costs, they’re working with even slimmer margins.”
Some are feeling stuck like a cargo ship in the Suez Canal.
“We’re about to run out of stock on that product on Amazon U.K.,” Bernie Thompson of Plugable Technologies said. “There’s no way for us to have a Prime Day deal in the U.K. Our goods are on the Ever Given.”
Some smaller businesses saw it coming and will be prepared.
Isaac Larian of MGA Entertainment began planning for these shortages months ago. Today, with goods stuck in distant ports, he’s in better position to move the company’s Bratz brand of dolls than other toymakers.
“In 42 years in this business, I’ve seen a lot of challenges, but I’ve not seen anything like this,” Larian told CNBC.
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