Business
From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing. IntroductionThis is Today in Five with Madison Huffman, for today, March 19th. Here are today’s headlines.There’s no escaping the dramatic effects of COVID-19 as it spreads across nations around the world. It’s changing the retail landscape dramatically as companies scramble to put safety measures into place, including shuttering stores temporarily to help flatten the curve.Here are the latest headlines.Amazon Making Major Changes Due to COVID-19As the coronavirus epidemic rages on, Amazon has limited Marketplace fulfillment to medical supplies and household essentials. According to a notice, Amazon has suspended the intake of most products from U.S. and European Union Marketplace sellers into its fulfillment centers through April 5th. The e-commerce giant is temporarily quote, “prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers,” end quote. It’s one of the latest measures Amazon has taken as the current epidemic rapidly changes consumer behavior and effects how retail operates. The e-commerce giant will also open 100,000 full and part-time positions in its fulfillment centers and delivery network as it sees a spike in demand for e-commerce due to quarantines and social distancing. In a company blog post, Amazon described its labor requirements as,“unprecedented for this time of year.” Amazon will also increase pay for hourly workers by two dollars through April. Retails Making Closures in Response to COVID-19Amazon isn’t the only company changing day-to-day operations. Retailers from Apple to Lululemon have joined schools, workplaces, and churches in shutting their doors temporarily to contain the spread of COVID-19. The American Dream mall in New Jersey announced last week it will be postponing the opening of several retailers and the DreamWorks Water Park, which was slated to open March 19th, and is temporarily closing the mall entirely. The closures come as the CDC recently recommended canceling or postponing gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. Grocery Delivery / Meal Delivery Subscriptions Seeing SpikesAs Americans across the nation practice social distancing, grocery delivery services like Instacart and Amazon Fresh have seen spikes in demand. But other food startups are also seeing increased consumer demand and we expect will continue to see increased demand for the foreseeable future. Meal delivery kit subscription company, Blue Apron, has seen its stock prices more than double this week. Daily Harvest, which sells smoothies and soups, posted on social media that it was doubling its inventory in response to an increase in demand. Trade Coffee reported a 10x increase in new subscriptions and Real Good Foods, which sells a line of Keto-friendly foods, said it has seen a 20x increase in its direct-to-consumer business.E-commerce food businesses are facing a similar dilemma to makers of hand-sanitizers, soap, and other in-demand products, which is how to keep up with demand. While these food startups have only experienced sales bumps within the past few weeks, it’s likely to be a trend that sticks around and they’re preparing for the unprecedented demand for the foreseeable future. The chief marketing officer of Real Good Foods said, “People with autoimmune issues — they are not going to be going to Chipotle in 6, 12, 18 months because they are just scared. This is going to change behaviors, for sure over the next 18-24 months.”ClosingMost leaders feel overwhelmed when the unexpected impacts the customer experience. With Simplr customer service, you’ll always have on-demand staffing to answer every customer question–so you can be in control and stay focused on growing the business. Visit simplr.ai to learn more.Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. Until next time.