Member Brief: Amazon Pulls The Rug

With the exception of a few larger volume sellers, Amazon is shifting away from the retailer model by limiting their wholesale partnerships to the most impactful partners. The rules of the consumer economy are changing faster than ever. Some of these changes have had dire consequences, especially for independent retailers and challenger brands. This week, Amazon announced that they have suspended an extraordinary number of lower volume sellers in the Direct Fulfillment (dropship) program. The Direct Fulfillment program allows vendors to dropship goods to their buyers. Additionally, some vendors stopped receiving purchase orders without explanation. And these aren’t vendors inconsequential revenue figures.