Amazon is not accepting 'non-essential' products at its warehouses for the next 3 weeks amid COVID-19 crisis - Here's what that means for shoppers

• Amazon announced on Tuesday that it would stop accepting "non-essential" products at its warehouses to make room for more vital products, as it deals with increased demand amid the coronavirus crisis.
• The change doesn't mean Amazon will stop shipping those products to consumers.
• But it could bring some changes to the general shopping experience on Amazon, experts say.
• It could lead to more out-of-stock items and higher prices of certain products, they say.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon announced on Tuesday that it would stop adding new "non-essential" products to its warehouses for the next three weeks, as the spread of coronavirus has caused a huge increase in demand for more vital products like face masks and toilet paper.

That means Amazon is no longer making space in its warehouses for new shipments of discretionary products like electronics. Instead, the company is stocking up on items it deems more necessary such as medical supplies, household staples, and other high-demand products - or essential products that have seen huge order increases amid the coronavirus crisis.

The move doesn't mean Amazon will stop shipping those non-essential products to consumers.

But it is expected to change the general shopping experience on Amazon.

The most likely scenario for shoppers is a greater likelihood that the "non-essential" product they want is no longer in stock on the site. While Amazon's existing inventory of products like TVs and cell phone cases will continue to be available, merchants will not be able to restock those items until April 5. Once Amazon's supply runs out, consumers will be out of luck.

"Almost all categories on Amazon are way up [in demand], and if sellers don't restock, items will start to go out of stock pretty quickly," Dan Sugarman, CEO of Zentail, an e-commerce consultancy, told Business Insider.

Another potential change is higher prices of some products. Sellers could lose the "buy box" and certain listing spots on Amazon if they run out of inventory, so some of them have been driving up their prices lately to avoid stock depletion. That trend could continue because merchants won't be able to replenish certain products until April 5.

"Shoppers will notice that some items are out of stock or higher priced," Juozas Kaziukenas told Business Insider. "This should become more common as the April 5 date approaches."

Perhaps the bigger impact for the most loyal Amazon shoppers could be the drop in Prime-eligible products. Amazon said Tuesday's announcement would affect, among others, the third-party sellers who use its fulfillment program, called Fulfillment by Amazon. Products sold by those sellers are eligible for Prime, which makes them available for faster shipping and often better placement on the site. But those products will no longer be Prime-eligible once they go out of stock, if they are deemed "non-essential" by Amazon.

"Consumers will have to default to the normal marketplace experience for these products," Rick Watson, CEO of RMW Commerce Consulting, told Business Insider.

Alternative options

Amazon sellers are responding differently to Tuesday's announcement.

Those that have enough inventory in stock are less worried about the change. But sellers who are running low on inventory are busy finding other marketplace options to sell their discretionary products, according to James Thomson, Partner of Buy Box Experts, an agency that helps online sellers.

He said while some merchants have been partnering with third-party logistics options to sell on their own, a lot of them have used Amazon's fulfillment service for most of their shipping and storage needs, making them particularly vulnerable to Tuesday's change.

By switching to other marketplaces, he said sellers will be able to continue re-stocking and selling their products, even if they run out of stock before April 5 - potentially moving buyers to other sites as well.

"They are all scrambling looking for alternative options," Thomson said.

In an email to Business Insider, Amazon's representative said, "We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritize these products for customers."