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In the pre-coronavirus world, retailers big and small were in an arms race over free and fast delivery. In New York City, where I live, that meant you could get a range of items from toothpaste to batteries within 48 hours or less without paying an extra fee. Now, the wait for such items via my Amazon Prime account is nearly a week. And that’s actually a pretty good pace these days: Prime members are reportedly facing month-long delivery delays for some items as Amazon prioritises getting household staples to those in need. And those staples are hard to find online, or come with big strings attached. Last week, Walmart.com offered me the option of paying $75 to get speedier delivery on a bottle of Zicam cold-remedy medicine that typically retails for about $10 to $15. The item is now out of stock.
Demand for essential items is skyrocketing as people hunker down in their homes, and many are turning to delivery services, straining networks that even after years of growth in e-commerce weren’t built for such astronomical spikes. With orders for things like thermometers and toilet paper getting cancelled as inventory dries up, I’m less concerned these days about when my delivery shows up and just happy if it gets here at all. And there are, of course, much bigger concerns about the health and safety of the employees that make these deliveries possible. About 100 Amazon.com Inc workers at a Staten Island, New York fulfillment centre went on strike. They’re demanding the facility be closed for two weeks and sanitised amid the spread of the coronavirus and that workers continue to be paid. It remains unclear how long such coronavirus-related disruptions will linger, but expectations for daily life are already being reset. What if some of those changes stick?
Wary of another pandemic, people may be more vigilant about stockpiling essentials at home, to the point where it’s really not necessary to get a fresh pack of toilet paper delivered in two hours versus two days. For those who do want fast service, Amazon, Walmart Inc and other retailers will eventually be able to start putting packages on people’s doorsteps at their previous pace as the flow of goods starts to normalise. But the perception of the value of that service seems to have changed. I don’t think I’ll take it for granted in the way that I did before. I might even be willing to pay for it.
—Bloomberg
Brooke Sutherland is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and industrial companies. She previously wrote an M&A column for Bloomberg News