Amazon orders have dropped sharply, and sellers’ inventory capacity has been cut in half again!

On the first Monday of September, Amazon sellers’ orders plunged again, and many people described it as “terrible.” At the same time, the frequently adjusted inventory capacity dropped again. Some sellers found that the inventory capacity dropped by nearly 50% in the early morning.

The decline in orders and storage capacity has made sellers feel that it is really difficult, but the peak season is approaching and the demand of the American people will further increase. At that time, both storage capacity and orders are worth looking forward to. Recently, there is also news that prices in the United States have risen. Sellers may try to raise prices in the future to seize the opportunity to make money during the peak season.

Amazon sellers : Orders are slowing down

In recent days, Amazon sellers have reported that their orders have been very cold, and adjectives such as "terrible" and "heartbreaking" have once again been used by sellers to describe the orders.

According to feedback from many sellers, since last Friday, many sellers have seen a significant decline in orders; this situation has continued on Saturday and Sunday. Over the weekend, a seller said that he checked the order volume before going to bed, which was worse than the same period last year and worse than yesterday. Since June this year, he has felt that it has been difficult to do business, and the competition is particularly fierce. Now it is even worse.

On Monday morning, the number of sellers with the same situation gradually increased. More sellers' recent feedback on orders is as follows:

“—What’s wrong with the Americans when the orders are so bad;

——Orders are in a state of disrepair;

——Yesterday was bad, and today is not good either;

——It was cold on Saturday and has been cold till now;

——It’s been a slump in recent days;

——Why are there so few orders today, Monday? "

The reason why there are so few orders recently is suspected to have been found by smart sellers. According to one seller's analysis, this situation is related to Labor Day in the United States. Americans go out to play during the holiday, so who would want to shop? This analysis has been recognized by many peers in the industry.

It is understood that Labor Day is a national holiday in the United States. It is the first Monday in September and is a day off to show respect for workers. Today happens to be Labor Day in the United States. Together with last weekend, Americans have three days off.

When a large number of Americans who have been traveling abroad return, sellers' orders may pick up. However, Amazon's storage capacity policy has been frequently adjusted recently, and the replenishment volume in September is still a problem.

At present, in addition to factors on the buyer side that affect the order situation, Amazon's replenishment restrictions have a greater impact on the sustainability of orders. One seller said bluntly: "Whoever has goods to sell on the European site this year will be the winner. Our storage capacity is strictly limited, so we have no chance."

At present, in addition to factors on the buyer side that affect the order situation, Amazon's replenishment restrictions have a greater impact on the sustainability of orders. One seller said bluntly: "Whoever has goods to sell on the European site this year will be the winner. Our storage capacity is strictly limited, so we have no chance."

Storage capacity is reduced again, and sellers' shipments are cut by nearly 50%

Last week, Amazon's inventory capacity continued to decline. Many sellers did not wait for the inventory capacity to be increased to ship more goods, but instead waited for the replenishment limit to hit the red light, and owed Amazon credit. A few sellers' inventory capacity was cut by half; after a seller's inventory capacity was reduced from 10,000 to 9,000, the shipment he had just created the day before was also cancelled.

One seller sighed, "The inventory performance is 748. Last week, the storage capacity was 5k, but now it has been reduced to 3k... There is no fun anymore, I can just lie down and do nothing." Another seller also said that his inventory has dropped from 30,000 at the beginning to 8,000 now, and it is too late to send air freight. The seller lamented that the storage capacity is getting smaller and smaller. After sending this batch of goods, it will probably take a month before there is a chance to ship. In the future, if there is a chance, we must immediately build the shipment to avoid a sudden reduction in storage capacity.

Sellers are trying their best to keep up with the pace of the platform, but Amazon's adjustments may come at any time. Yesterday, a seller found that the inventory capacity had dropped by nearly 50% early in the morning, and he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

When sellers collectively complained about Amazon's tightening of storage capacity, one seller said, "I received an email saying that my store will no longer have storage capacity restrictions in October, but I don't know if it's true or not." From the email posted by another seller, it seems that this may be a misunderstanding. The email shows:

“Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score is 506. Since your IPI score is 450 or above, you will not be subject to stocking restrictions on standard sizes, oversize sizes, apparel or footwear inventory beginning October 1, 2021. However, all products are subject to restocking quantity restrictions.”

As storage capacity continues to adjust, it is difficult to replenish stocks in a timely manner using conventional means. Sellers have begun to think of ways to replenish stocks by air, use overseas warehouses, open new accounts, etc. However, the price of air freight remains high, the cost of using overseas warehouses is relatively high, and it still takes a lot of time to transfer to Amazon warehouses. What's more, some sellers' goods have been waiting in overseas warehouses for a long time, and the storage capacity continues to decline, so they are still unable to enter the warehouse.

A seller was upset by the storage capacity problem and tried to register a new account. However, even if he started downloading links as early as October, it would still take some time for the account to be available for sale, and distant water could not put out a nearby fire.

The first-leg freight hit a new high, and the storage capacity is limited. Some small sellers can't help but worry about how to get orders during this peak season. Big sellers may have channels to replenish stocks, and sellers with refined operations can also get by. Only small sellers are strangled. The next big promotion is destined to be a carnival for the big sellers, and small sellers can just watch the excitement and shrink.

Sellers also analyzed the reasons why Amazon continues to reduce its inventory capacity.

"The main reason is that the United States is short of workers after the epidemic, especially truck drivers. Amazon can no longer recruit people. There is a serious loss of front-line workers. All the early temporary workers have been poached. It is estimated that FBA operations will be difficult." said a seller.

Another seller believes that perhaps Amazon realized that it has taken on too much warehousing work for sellers, and now has begun to restrict warehousing and pass part of the warehousing costs on to sellers, which has led to the situation where sellers are now looking for overseas warehouses all over the world.

Prices in the United States have risen sharply , and sellers are quick to raise prices

There have also been recent reports of rising prices in the United States , so sellers may try to raise prices next to seize the opportunity to make money during the peak season .

Meat prices in offline supermarkets have increased. Costco's meat is almost gone for less than US$10. At the same time , toilet paper and various water products have increased by 8%, and oil prices have increased even more. Currently, oil prices in the United States have reached the highest record since 2014. On this basis, California has also increased its gasoline tax since July 1: the gasoline tax per gallon will climb to 51.1 cents.

A blogger in the US said that before, you could fill up a tank of gas for $40, but now you can't even fill it up for $60. Food prices have increased by 20%-30%, and prices in the US are going crazy now.

According to reports, the inflation rate in the United States from May to June rose by 5% compared with the same period last year, marking the largest annual increase since 2008. According to polls, the Federal Reserve believes that average prices may rise by another 4.8% in the next 12 months.

A seller said that prices in the U.S. have skyrocketed, and we have already begun to prepare to control the prices of low-profit products. Sea freight prices will also increase in the future. We will resolutely not give any benefits to Americans during the Christmas season and make a lot of money from them!

This year, the price war between Amazon sellers has become increasingly fierce. The price war has been going on between categories since before the account ban wave. Since then, as the plan to clear inventory has been put on the agenda, the price war has been escalated. Many sellers lamented: their prices are already very low, but when they see their peers are not making any money at all, they are all doing charity!

At the same time, many sellers are calling on their peers not to fight against each other and not to use their profits for charity. As prices rise in the United States and the peak season approaches, logistics, advertising and other costs will rise. Amazon sellers may try to raise prices to protect their profits.