It’s the end of the year, and while sales are booming during the peak season, the logistics pressure of cross-border e-commerce is gradually approaching the breaking point!

Recently, Amazon’s US site announced a “big move”: from December 15 to December 31, 2024, the delivery window of the distribution center will be completely blocked , which made many sellers feel nervous.

What's going on with this wave of restrictions?

According to the official announcement, Amazon has imposed strict restrictions on all its U.S. distribution centers due to the risk of warehouse explosions during the holiday peak period .

During the lockdown period, the distribution center will stop accepting newly created shipments until normal operations resume on January 1, 2025 .

However, the good news is that this lockdown is not completely "one size fits all".

Amazon warehouses will still receive the following two types of goods:

① Shipments that have been created and are in transit, such as shipments created before December 15.

② Parcels that are being delivered, that is, parcels with an estimated delivery time between December 15 and 31.

It is important to note that some sellers may encounter a system prompt of "rejection" when creating shipments. This is actually Amazon's prediction based on logistics pressure and does not mean that all warehouses have stopped accepting shipments.

In fact, some warehouses can still receive goods normally , and the specific situation shall be subject to the actual operation results.

Amazon Timeline and Financial Subsidies

Block period: December 15 to December 31, 2024

Recovery time: January 1, 2025

Impact: All U.S. distribution centers

Subsidy policy: Amazon will provide a subsidy of $0.15 per unit for eligible rescheduled shipments .

Conditions for receiving subsidies:

1. The original delivery date must be between December 1 and 14, 2024.

2. The rescheduled delivery date must be after January 1, 2025.

The subsidy amount will be applied directly to the remaining deduction of fulfillment fees, which can be regarded as a cost recovery method for sellers who can accept delayed delivery.

Sellers without reservations: Must wait until January 1, 2025 to recreate shipments, which may result in out-of-stock during the holiday season and missed sales opportunities.

Sellers with delivery appointments: Although the goods can be received normally, it is expected that there will be delays in listing them, and they may face warehousing defect fees, which will affect efficiency and costs.

What do sellers need to do?

Check inventory and plan shipments reasonably

Check existing inventory levels to see if there is enough inventory to last until January;

Accelerate the delivery of shipments created before December 15 to ensure that the goods can be put on the shelves smoothly;

If you have new goods that need to be shipped, you can consider giving priority to warehouses that are still receiving shipments to avoid congestion points.

Adjust Q4 operation strategy

Adjust advertising budgets and promotion efforts based on inventory conditions to avoid a situation where orders grow too fast but inventory is insufficient;

Enable FBM (fulfillment by yourself) as an alternative to fill the gap caused by insufficient FBA inventory;

Develop an inventory replenishment and promotion plan for January 2025, and use "New Year Promotion" to strive for a new round of growth.

Pay attention to official developments and stay agile

Check Amazon backend notifications and account health dashboards in a timely manner to pay attention to the latest updates on warehouse receipt and inventory status;

If you encounter a situation where a shipment cannot be created or sent, you can obtain the specific reasons and solutions through the customer service channel.

Using subsidy programs to reduce losses

If some of the goods are eligible for the subsidy, reschedule the delivery time and take advantage of the subsidy policy of US$0.15 per unit to optimize fulfillment costs.

Peak season challenges, how to turn crises into opportunities?

Although the warehouse lockdown period has brought considerable pressure, it is also an opportunity to optimize the supply chain for sellers who are prepared in advance.

By planning inventory in advance, flexibly adjusting delivery strategies, and effectively utilizing Amazon’s subsidy policies, sellers can not only avoid out-of-stock situations during the peak season, but also take advantage of the January “restocking window” to gain new growth opportunities at the beginning of the new year.

On the road of cross-border e-commerce, every challenge is an opportunity for self-breakthrough. In the last month of 2024, I wish you all a great sales season and a smooth transition! 🎉

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