USPS Is Undergoing Further Changes - How Does This Affect eCommerce?

As the United States Postal Service’s new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy makes potentially disastrous changes to the organization’s operations - and then doubles back on some of them - we’re sitting here with bated breath wondering how this will affect e-commerce.

Already we’ve heard many reports that USPS packages are being delivered as much as 2-4 days late. While this does not affect orders made on snap.parts because of our newly updated delivery policies, many sellers on Amazon, us included, are struggling to meet the demands of the retail giant amidst the USPS crisis.

While one might expect a company like Amazon to be more understanding during such unprecedented times - especially when their platform is composed primarily of third-party sellers at this point - they appear to be anything but. 

In fact, Amazon recently announced to sellers that it is changing its policies to require sellers to adhere to one-day shipping and Saturday shipping. Amazon uses USPS to complete the overwhelming majority of its deliveries. Given the current tumult happening at USPS, it is difficult to imagine they will be able to achieve one-day delivery.

Currently, no one is sure how long the current crisis will last, but it is our opinion that Amazon’s timing with this announcement is rather questionable.

We’ve reported previously about Amazon’s weekend delivery policy and how it was forcing sellers off the market. Sellers already take a hit in the form of negative feedback when Amazon promises shipping times that the sellers cannot possibly achieve in the middle of the worst health and public mail crisis in this country’s history. 

Responsible sellers ship the item - or rely on Amazon to ship the item in cases where the order is FBA, fulfilled by Amazon - as soon as they can. After that, Amazon and USPS take care of the rest. Given the fact that USPS is going through some trouble, many deliveries are being delayed. But Amazon does not allow any leniency with their shipping promises, and so sellers are the ones who take the heat when an order is late. 

If they begin to force sellers to adhere to a one-day shipping policy - which is difficult when times are good and borderline impossible during such chaotic times - these sellers face removal from Amazon’s marketplace, specifically because Amazon chooses to punish sellers when it is ultimately their fault for making sellers rely on USPS during these times. 

We’d like to take this opportunity to encourage shoppers to choose Snap Supply’s website when shopping with Snap Supply. And generally, shopping directly with small businesses is much more beneficial for everyone involved. It is at least a better alternative to supporting Amazon and all of their toxic practices.