An ever-growing company with many revenue streams, Amazon.com (AMZN 1.66%) is letting one of them run dry for the moment. According to a report published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter," the giant retailer will soon halt the activities of Amazon Shipping, its third-party logistics service. The stoppage will begin in June, and is intended to be temporary.
Amazon Shipping is effectively the retailer using some of its drivers to pick up packages from clients and deliver them. It is relatively small scale for the company, as it's only available in a few select markets.
Image source: Amazon.com.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and the resulting increased demand for product delivery, Amazon is in an "all hands on deck" situation to move its own goods. Recently the company announced it would be hiring 100,000 full- and part-time new workers to aid it in these efforts. The company has also shifted its priorities to delivering "essential" products; other shipments are being pushed back days, or even weeks.
In a note obtained by the Journal, written to Amazon Shipping clients, the company said that "[w]e understand this is a change to your business, and we did not take this decision lightly. We will work with you over the next several weeks so there is as little disruption to your business as possible."
Amazon has not yet issued an official public statement on the status of Amazon Shipping.
The retailer's stock inched up by 1.27% on Tuesday, but this was good enough to beat many top stocks. That modest gain also bested the key market indexes, most of which slumped on the day.
