A batch of sellers' shipments were rejected

Last week, Amazon's two-day Prime Day came to an end, setting a new sales record.

Looking at the specific data, during the PD period, Amazon's third-party sellers around the world sold more than 200 million items, with total sales reaching US$14.2 billion, an increase of 11%.

Undoubtedly, such good results boosted market confidence. Adobe predicts that with the impact of PD, online spending in the United States will reach US$84.4 billion in July, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. By the end of September, full-year online spending is expected to reach US$732 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

However, this grand occasion seems to be out of reach for some sellers ...

Amazon warehouse outages continue as rejection rate is extremely high

If we talk about one of the hot topics before Amazon's annual PD promotion, it is inevitable that "Amazon warehouse overflows". According to past experience, PD is usually held in mid-July, and in terms of stocking preparation time, most sellers will concentrate in May and June, which is the concentrated period of warehouse overflow.

This year is no exception. As early as May and June, Ennet noticed a number of posts on social media platforms about Amazon sellers who were anxious about not being able to make appointments at Amazon warehouses due to warehouse overflow. Just half a month before the PD started, a group of sellers were still struggling with shipping issues, but ultimately failed to deliver the goods across the Pacific.

“——I missed the first peak season this year;

——Who understands? It’s not that my goods can’t be sold, it’s that they can’t be put on the shelves;

——After working hard in the first half of the year to save up for the futures, I was hit by a liquidation in the first month of the second half of the year;

——Although it may not be easy to sell, at least it gives me a sense of practical participation;

——I was even deprived of the qualification to enter the market due to the ‘margin call’;

——The first unpleasant thing to say in the second half of the year: No more appointments

..."

Even on the eve of PD, some freight forwarders posted on WeChat Moments that Amazon warehouses were temporarily closed or all contracts were cancelled . For example, Amazon ’s LAS1 warehouse in the United States had previously cancelled all contracts, and the freight forwarder notified that the warehouse would be rescheduled until mid-July , probably after PD was over .

The continuous warehouse explosion has caused sellers to be shackled by the risk of out-of-stock even if they want to try their hand at PD. Some sellers also said that the goods arrived at the West Coast warehouse in June, but were not registered and received until July, and they were unable to put them on the shelves, "so anxious that they couldn't sleep every day."

There are also sellers whose sales have plummeted due to out-of-stock issues caused by warehouse overflows.

With the end of PD, will the margin call problem also end? It seems not.

" If we talk about easing, it may be better than before, but the difference is not big. It is still difficult to make reservations at popular warehouses now ," a freight forwarder told Ennet.

At present, many Amazon warehouses in multiple regions of the West, East, and Central America are still experiencing continuous overloads, and warehouses such as LGB8, LAX9, and LAS1 have a high frequency of rejection . Some sellers said that freight forwarders have rejected their shipping requests .

According to the specific feedback from the freight forwarder:

LAX9 : warehouse explosion, board and floor contracts have been postponed for a long time (some freight forwarders said it was postponed to mid-to-late September )

LGB8 : Blow up, stuck for about half a month, floor after about 4 weeks, blow up rejection frequency is high

LAS1 : Serious warehouse explosion, stuck for about half a month , difficult to make a floor appointment ( PENDING), Amazon frequently postpones appointments

GYR2 : Liquidation, stuck board , floor, etc., will take about half a month

SBD1 : Liquidation, stuck for about a week , difficult to reach the floor ( PENDING)

ONT8 : Liquidation, stuck for about a week, floor for about 3 weeks

MCE1, OAK3 : Liquidation, the frequency of rejection of floor contracts has increased

GYR3 : Blow up, stuck board contract , floor contract are about one week

XLX7 : Liquidation, stuck for about half a month

SCK8 : Liquidation, board stuck around mid-to -early August

In addition to the above-mentioned warehouses, some warehouses are overwhelmed, but relatively speaking, the waiting time for pallets is shorter, and the floor requires a waiting time, such as SMF3 , SCK4 , LGB6 , LGB9 , etc.

It will take about half a month to wait for the floors of US-China warehouses such as IND9 , FWA4 , RFD2 , etc.

In addition, according to information from some freight forwarders, it is not just the United States. Before and after PD, some Amazon warehouses in Canada are still overwhelmed , and multiple warehouses in Japan also experience delivery delays.

Shipping and delivery are full of crises

In addition to the liquidation, some warehouses were announced to be temporarily closed during the PD period.

Last week, Een.com noticed that some freight forwarders sent out messages saying that due to the impact of the hurricane, there was a large-scale power outage in the Houston area of ​​the United States, and Amazon's IAH3 warehouse was temporarily closed, and delivery would be affected .

Extreme weather not only affects the end of the journey, but also the beginning of the journey.

For example, in early July , Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Houston, Texas, USA , and heavy rain and wind caused power outages to intensify. Local media also reported that more than 3 million households and businesses lost power a few hours after Beryl made landfall , and flood warnings were even issued in coastal areas.

From the perspective of the transportation system, information from the flight tracking website FlightAware stated that nearly 1,400 flights were canceled and more than 1,000 flights were delayed.

Another statement required that major ports in Texas such as Houston, Galveston, Freeport , etc. be required to cease operations and all cargo operations be stopped immediately .

In China, in recent days, "Gemi" first strengthened from a strong typhoon to a super typhoon . Many places have also successively upgraded their typhoon and flood prevention emergency response levels. Afterwards , Guangdong announced that some railway trains would be suspended on the 25th, and Fujian announced that all passenger trains were planned to be suspended on the 25th .

In addition, water operations and passing ships in relevant waters were notified to return to port to avoid the wind and suspend operations, which may cause delays in logistics . Moreover, in strong winds and heavy rains, if the seller's goods are not properly stored, they may get damp and cause a large loss.

In Canada, Jasper National Park, the largest national park in Canada with an area of ​​over 11,000 square kilometers , suffered a wildfire, which in turn caused nearly 200 wildfires in the area ( data from the Alberta Wildfire Service ).

Due to the evacuation order, the highway was blocked by traffic , and the fire also cut off many highways. There were large-scale road closures to Calgary , Edmonton and other places , which may also cause sellers to delay shipments .

It's not just the extreme weather. There have been constant strikes abroad and the transportation system has been repeatedly hit hard.

For example, in early July, as Italian transport unions and employers remained at odds after six months of negotiations , the unions Uiltrasporti, Filt Cgil and Fit Cisl announced a two-day strike by port workers .

Later, workers at two important ports in Germany , the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Bremen, also announced a strike , and even Maersk and Kuehne + Nagel issued emergency notices .

Port strikes often disrupt the operational rhythm , causing delays and cancellations in container loading and unloading , and ultimately leading to logistics delays or transportation interruptions .

There are also various crises such as the long-term chaos in the Red Sea, robbery of cargo ships, fires on container ships, etc., which will cause sellers to bear losses to varying degrees.

At present, shipping costs have fallen and sellers' cost pressure has eased, but other pressures in the first and last mile are still considerable.

PD is over. Whether or not the "first shot" of the peak season has been fired, we must concentrate on preparing for the next sales peak period, grasp the delivery rhythm, and hope that everyone can achieve good results.

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