Due to the overwhelming demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon has lost some of its customers.
The company’s inability to keep up with all of its orders has caused it to lose eight percent of its hold on the online shopping market in the United States. Typically, Amazon accounts for 42 percent of all online sales in the U.S., but by mid-April it dropped to 34 percent, according to data from the analytics firm Rakuten Intelligence.
Companies like Target and Walmart saw online sales shoot up — 141 percent for Target and 74 percent for the latter — in the last quarter, but now it seems like Amazon is ready to regain its position in the market.
Even though the company’s annual Prime Day is reportedly delayed, Amazon is preparing for an earlier ‘Summer Sale’ that will let brands sell excess inventory, as reported by The New York Times. The publication says it received the information from an audio recording of an internal meeting that discussed the promotion.
While Amazon did struggle at first to keep up with demand, and though it seems it may not be ready for its full Prime Day event, the Summer Sale might be enough to help it regain traction with the online shopping market.
On May 1st, Amazon stopped allowing unlimited unpaid time off, forcing many employees back to work. The company also hired and trained 175,000 new employees, which will allow the retail giant to replenish its warehouses quickly. The new employees will be able to help with the upcoming sale as well.
Amazon is also taking back the measures it put in place to throttle customer demand. For example, the ‘Today’s Deals’ page has returned to the site’s homepage and the variety of products listed has increased.
Additionally, in early April, the company stopped banning brands from selling on the site if they had numerous late or cancelled orders. However, starting June 1st, the company will restart tracking and enforcing accounts that have a high cancellation rate and late shipment rates.
Source: The New York Times
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