Beware of potential holiday delivery delays due to the ongoing Amazon worker strike.
Beware of potential holiday delivery delays due to the ongoing Amazon worker strike.
Amazon assures customers that their deliveries will be on time, but experts in logistics caution that certain shipments could encounter minor setbacks due to thousands of employees going on strike in California, Georgia, Illinois, and New York since Thursday.
Most Amazon customers are unlikely to be affected, as the company boasts numerous facilities, stated Satish Jindel, head of ShipMatrix, a firm that tracks package delivery data for freight shippers.
Jindel explained, "They will have the capacity to dispatch products from other locations. They won't be halted completely. Some parcels that might normally arrive within a day could now take two. Others that might have taken two days could now take three. But the number will be limited."
Some Amazon customers may find an "Arrives before Christmas" message added to their order details.
Amazon announced in October that it would recruit an additional 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers to manage the expected surge in shipping during the holiday season, as holiday spending was projected to rise by as much as 3.5% compared to the previous year—totaling around $989 billion.
As of early December, only 10% of shoppers claimed to have completed all their shopping, according to the National Retail Federation. Between the Saturday before Christmas and December 25, around 157.2 million shoppers were estimated to finalize their holiday purchases, the National Retail Federation reported.
Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, which carried out the National Retail Federation's December holiday consumer survey, said, "Whether shoppers have already planned out their shopping list or are waiting till the last minute, most shoppers still have purchases left to make before December 25."
Over half of Americans are concerned about delivery delays during the holiday season, according to October research conducted by Badcredit.org.
The shorter time frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year might contribute to last-minute shopping, as the National Retail Federation estimated the Saturday before Christmas would have more shoppers flocking to stores and making online purchases than in the previous year.
The National Retail Federation also found that more consumers plan to complete their shopping online (49%) than at department stores (37%), discount stores (27%), or clothing and accessory stores (25%).
CNN's Chris Isidore and Erika Tulfo contributed to this report.
Despite the strikes affecting some employees in various states, Amazon's vast network of facilities allows them to continuiously dispatch products from alternate locations, although delivery times might slightly increase. Many consumers remain concerned about potential delivery delays during the holiday season, as indicated by a survey conducted by Badcredit.org.