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business Thursday 30 april 2020
Pandemic brings fortunes to Amazon - and headaches too

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO "Everything would have
and ALEXANDRA OLSON come down to a screech-
AP Retail Writers ing halt," Krahling said. "It's
Amazon has spent years helped me cover all over-
honing the business of head without freaking out."
packing, shipping and de- Craig Johnson, president
livering millions of products of retail consultancy Con-
to doorsteps around the sumer Growth Partners,
world. says Amazon has a "high
Now it has a captive audi- class problem" consider-
ence. ing how many other stores
With much of the globe in have gone dark.
various stages of a lock- "Given all that is going on,
down because of the they have done remark-
coronavirus pandemic, the ably well," Johnson said.
world's largest online re- "Yes, there are glitches.
tailer has become a lifeline But there are glitches all
to many shoppers. But it is over. We have never been
also grappling with delivery through this."q
delays and mounting com-
plaints from workers who
worry about contagion
while on the job. In this Dec. 17, 2019, file photo, Amazon packages move along a conveyor at an Amazon
The company's website hit warehouse facility in Goodyear, Ariz. Associated Press.
2.54 billion visitors for the
entire month of March, ac- some of its warehouses and cleaning, implementing are few better alternatives
cording to online research easing productivity quotas. temperature checks, rac- for getting essentials online.
company Comscore. That "Amazon has gone from a ing to distribute masks, stag- "That's the only place you
marks a 65% jump from the nice-to-have to a necessi- gering shifts and spreading can shop for most ev-
same period last year. Am- ty," said Jon Reily of Isobar, out tables in break rooms. It erything you need," said
azon will report quarterly a global digital agency. "It's is also allowing any worker Marlina Fol, a caregiver in
earnings on Thursday, pro- becoming a public utility who feels unsafe to stay Manhattan, who said she
viding a first glimpse into its like the electric company home without pay through was able to buy masks and
financial performance dur- or the water company. But April, while offering a $2 hand sanitizer from Ama-
ing the pandemic. they're putting pressure on hourly pay bump for those zon in early March but now
Discounters like Walmart workers. And workers are who stay on the job. struggles to get a window
and Dollar General that scared." Amazon also says it's de- for grocery delivery from
sell essential products have The most dramatic fallout veloping an internal lab Whole Foods, which Ama-
seen their shares soar 8% came in France when a that could potentially pro- zon acquired two years
and 15% respectively. But court ordered Amazon last vide coronavirus tests for ago. Amazon accounts for
Amazon has been a stand- week to stop delivering all employees, even those about 40% of online sales
out, with its stock up 22% so non-essential products for without symptoms. Guiselle in the U.S., according to
far this year. That's in con- a month while it works out Diaz, 23, said she has not eMarketer, an online re-
trast to the S&P, which has better worker safety mea- reported to her job at the search firm. It has devel-
slid 11%. Amazon is also hir- sures. An appeals court up- Staten Island warehouse for oped fierce loyalty among
ing 175,000 more workers held the ruling, although it weeks because she worries its more than 110 million U.S.
at a time when many busi- expanded the number of her asthma makes her vul- Prime members, who pay
nesses have cut back and products the company is nerable and she fears pass- $129 a year to get practi-
are seeking federal aid. allowed sell. Amazon re- ing the virus to her 81-year- cally anything shipped to
At the same time, Ama- sponded by closing all its old grandmother, who lives them in up to two days.
zon's vast empire is showing French warehouses, say- with her. "A lot of people That accounts for half of
cracks. Deliveries that used ing it is too complicated to are afraid, and a lot of peo- American households.
to take just hours to arrive separate out its activities. ple have conditions that Many experts believes
can instead take weeks Small groups of workers stop them from going," Diaz Amazon is only picking up
or even months. High de- have staged walkouts at said. Amazon's competitors more subscribers during the
mand items like toilet pa- Amazon warehouses in have faced similar chal- pandemic and expect its
per and paper towels are New York, Chicago and lenges with delays, product dominance to grow further.
frustratingly out of stock. Detroit, demanding that scarcity and worker discon- The company is also pro-
Probably the biggest is- the facilities be closed for tent. Walmart faced calls viding essential cash flow
sue facing the $1.1 tril- deep cleaning after work- to step up safety measures to third-party sellers who've
lion company is persistent ers there tested positive for after two workers from the seen their physical stores
complaints by warehouse the virus. Kentucky's gover- same store contracted the closed because of lock-
workers of grueling hours nor ordered a warehouse virus and died. Some work- downs. Aaron Krahling,
of backbreaking work with in Shepherdsville closed ers at grocery delivery ser- whose vitamin store in Wal-
little protection against for several days last month vices Instacart and Shipt, dorf, Maryland, has been
catching the coronavirus. after workers there got in- which is owned by Target, shuttered since mid-March,
A growing number of infec- fected. have walked off their jobs has been able to pay the
tions has increased pres- Amazon has refused to to demand greater safe- rent for his business and
sure on the company to say how many workers guards against the virus. other bills because of in-
take steps that could fur- have fallen ill. It says it has Many shoppers have been come he's received from
ther slow down operations, stepped up protection forgiving of Amazon, in selling home accessories
including shutting down measures, ramping up large part because there on Amazon.