Amazon is now trying to nudge people to order fewer products, as the company is trying to prioritize essential items such as medical supplies and paper goods. The company is making it slightly less convenient to get certain packages to people’s doorstep. In addition, they are cutting down on advertising, and is backpedaling its one-day shipping guarantee for Prime members in Europe, as Slate detailed:
Amazon is taking an axe to many of its promotional initiatives as well. In a bid to lure in fewer customers, the company is cutting back considerably on advertising in Google search results and on commission rates for its affiliate marketing program. That program gives a portion of the revenue from a sale to e-commerce companies and media outlets—including Slate—if a customer landed on the product page through a link they posted. Commission rates are expected to drop more than 50 percent for certain items. Amazon has additionally called off Mother’s Day and Father’s Day campaigns aimed at getting people to splurge on their parents and indefinitely postponed Prime Day, the doorbuster blowout it typically holds in July.
image via wikimedia commons
On top of that, they're cutting back on advertising costs, especially for Mother's/Father's day to see exactly how much that saves versus the drop in sales. Prime day is "postponed" unless of course they just happen to do it anyway if the Mother's/Father's day test shows they still need to do it. Plus it lets them make sure they can push it back if things are still bad. Shrewd business moves across the board, unless you happen to be an affiliate or Prime customer in Europe.