With a price increase of nearly 90%, emergency products top the Amazon Best Sellers list

Under the continued impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, consumers' demand for related emergency products has surged. Even with price increases, sales of some categories of products are still growing rapidly.

Industry data shows that in addition to conventional products, various unexpected international situations or extreme weather conditions can also cause a surge in consumer demand for certain products. According to foreign media reports, due to the ongoing impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, products that could be used in a nuclear war have soared to the top of Amazon's bestseller list.

An article in Time magazine shows that currently "the most popular products on Amazon are bug-out bags, military meal replacement kits and iodine pills (to be taken in the event of a nuclear bomb drop or a nuclear facility meltdown)."

The report found that in addition to sales growth, prices for these products have been rising steadily, with potassium iodide pills, for example, increasing by 23% to 89% in 90 days. At the same time, sales have been exploding, with annual sales growth for "anti-radiation" pills ranging from 35% to 8,100%, while sales of SOPACKO ready meals have risen 2,036% since January 1.

In the current tense situation, such products are in a niche market on Amazon. But their rapid expansion in sales and prices has not triggered Amazon's algorithm . Normally, after a product's price increases significantly, Amazon will intervene to prevent potential price gouging to protect the rights of platform consumers. This is true for regular products as well as products that have surged in demand during special periods.

Taking masks as an example at the beginning of the outbreak, Amazon removed more than 500,000 products and suspended more than 2,500 sellers for price gouging and policy violations related to the coronavirus.

However, Amazon has not yet taken any measures to deal with the price increase of such products. Perhaps Amazon still follows the practice of "repaying the debt later" and will take punitive measures against the sellers at the last minute. According to experts, from a scientific perspective, iodine pills cannot prevent or protect against "nuclear radiation".

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