I don’t disagree with you. This shipment was more reflective of the rates of a year or more ago.
With LTL, Amazon now gives options if you can wait longer for pickups that are much cheaper (being handled by Amazon Freight). If you are in a rush, you need to get lucky and have an AMZF appointment available.
For transparency, we sent a pallet to FL last week that cost almost $400. We were in a rush bc of low stock. Had we waited another 6 days, it would have been $148.
Proper planning is key.
We are still recovering from the capacity constraints of Q4 where Amazon had us at 250 feet (less than 6 weeks). We had to buy capacity in Sept to load up for Q4 just to keep our business running normally. It was cheap to do but I still don’t get it.
Our capacity now is 800 feet+ (almost 20 weeks).
We didn’t create a single shipping plan from 9-31 - 12-31. As you might imagine, it’s a real bitc h on cash flow when Amazon pulls this nonsense with capacity, forces proven sellers to load up and buy space and then charges them 4X the storage rate after you load up for Q4 as directed.
I’m not all that big on claiming Amazon runs money grab schemes but in this instance it is…
And all you hear from Amazon in this regard is use AWD - NO THANKS… I know for a fact that those facilities are not conditioned spaces (from a call I had with an AWD exec who was trying to push the program on us).
We will not subject our consumable products to long term storage in those kinds of conditions, nor will we lose the very little control we have of our business when it comes to sending inventory in.
I fear that AWD will no longer be optional in the future because that was probably some big execs pet project that was supposed to make Amazon more money. It will be forced on all of us sooner rather than later.
By then, hopefully conditions improve and more seller facing tools are in place to get inventory into the FC’s with goal factors in mind (weeks on hand).
Supposedly those functions were launched recently and the exec we spoke to said they were coming. I don’t know anything about them bc we aren’t using AWD.
I closely follow one of the top selling accounts on Amazon, who is also in our category ($250M+ annually).
I have a very strong feeling that they are using AWD due to their volume / listing count (well over 1000 PL supplements). I always review their seller feedback and other competitors. The number of “Melted Softgel / Melted Gummy” feedbacks was astonishing this past summer, fall, AND winter. Those skus aren’t new for them but that kind of feedback is. Only leads me to believe that they jumped on the AWD train which was pushed by their Amazon manager(s) and now deal with the consequences of their products baking in 90-100+ degree warehouses.