Amazon sellers in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain were elated to hear today that quantity limits have now been removed. The news came in a memo from Amazon.
“Over the last few months, we have made several temporary adjustments to our operations due to COVID-19. We continue to adhere to extensive health and safety measures and have made more than 150 process updates to protect our associates as they pick, pack, and ship products to customers. Learn more about those efforts.
We have now removed quantity limits on products you can send to our fulfilment centres located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain. We will continue to improve on customer promises and delivery speeds across our store.
To help you restore inventory levels, we encourage you to check the Restock Inventory page and the Restock report to view the latest recommended replenishment quantities and dates for your products. Our recommendations help to minimize out-of-stock or low-stock situations by taking into account demand forecasts and the product-level information you provide.
We are still temporarily limiting receiving products that weigh more than 15 kg, as they may require two-person handling that cannot be performed in compliance with physical-distancing guidance from health authorities. When you create a new shipment for your product, the shipment creation tool will advise you if there is a fulfilment centre capable of handling it.”
– Amazon
The FBA quantity limits caused a number of issues for sellers that were affected. Merchants had to check which products were eligible for FBA shipments, then also confirm what quantity each of their allowed products could ship.
A Return to (The New) Normal
As things get back to normal, there are still some changes being made due to coronavirus emergency operations. For example, there are still restrictions surrounding products weighing more than 15 kilograms. This is due to social distancing issues on products that need two people to carry them.
Another important aspect to remember is your IPI (Inventory Performance Index) score. Having a good IPI score will allow you to have unlimited stock in Amazon FBA throughout Q3 leading into peak season.
On the other hand, if your IPI score is bad you will be charged an overage fee of £7.80 per cubic foot of storage. That means you’re not going to want to be overstocking at Amazon. Take your time and assess the current situation and find what will work for you.
This news comes more than two months after Amazon imposed restrictions on FBA quantity limits in all major markets including the US. This has been part of an incremental “re-opening” of the market that is operating quite closely to the incremental phases that governments are using to re-open their economies.
Whereas three months ago Amazon had halted sales in an instant for products that many relied on for their businesses to be able to succeed, they soon allowed more products at a limited quantity to be sold and stored.
In the US, Amazon has also lifted quantity restrictions for FBA sellers. Amazon has recently come under fire for removing their $2 wage increase in the US. Workers upset with the company have staged protests and walkouts and shown concern that conditions had not improved enough.
It is yet to be seen if these warehouse changes will continue to spike tension among Amazon warehouse staff.
