COVID-19 Update: Amazon Reportedly Plans To Postpone Prime Day Event Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

Amazon is reportedly postponing Prime Day, its annual mega shopping event, until at least August.

According to a report by Reuters, Amazon is expecting an approximate $100 million hit from excess devices that the company will have sell at lower prices.

Prime Day, which started in 2005 to increase the sales, is Amazon’s giant shopping festival that spans over two days.

Amazon has declined to comment on this, Reuters reported.

In case of a delay, Amazon will be looking at five million extra devices. General Counsel David Zapolsky wrote in the notes from a daily meeting of executives at Amazon that they will have to promote sooner, but that would difficult if the company is “capacity constrained.”

Meanwhile, the internal meeting notes also revealed that Amazon is planning to enforce strict guidelines to ensure that employees must be at safe distances to prevent any coronavirus transmission.

The online retailer will be looking at sites where social distancing is poor and hold them accountable.

Elsewhere, Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations at Amazon, released a statement addressing the recent protest event at Amazon warehouses.

“We want to be very clear that we respect the rights of these employees to protest and recognize their legal right to do so. At the same time, these rights do not provide a blanket immunity against bad actions, particularly those that endanger the health, and potentially the lives, of colleagues,” Clark wrote in a statement.

He added that the company will to take strong actions to ensure that guidelines are followed concerning the safety and health of Amazon employees.

“This is not about any one individual. When anyone on our team at any level purposely puts the health of others at risk, we will take swift, decisive action without concern about external reaction. We did not, and have not ever, terminated an associate for speaking out on their working conditions, but we will act swiftly with individuals who purposely put others at risk,” he added.

Earlier, Amazon fired Christian Smalls, a worker who led the protest at a fulfillment center in Staten Island. According to The New York Times, Smalls was terminated almost immediately after he walked out with a group of employees during lunch hour.