Amazon Temporarily Suspends Prime Pantry: What You Should Know

Amazon offers multiple services to its customers, one of which is called Prime Pantry. With this, Prime customers can order household goods and non-fresh groceries to have them sent in a giant box directly to their doorstep. In an update on this service today, Amazon revealed that it is facing a huge amount of demand for this service and as a result, it has been forced to temporarily suspend Prime Pantry.

Many people in the United States are facing social distancing measures, which include everything from orders to stay home unless absolutely necessary to closed non-essential businesses and more. Though grocery stores remain open, many people have elected to skip them altogether and instead order their goods online.

There are advantages to this — physical stores experience decreased demand and fewer people are packed into the same space, reducing the potential spread of the virus. Instead, a limited number of people in a warehouse can be left alone to pack the boxes, which are then shipped by individuals who are better able to isolate themselves from crowds.

The downside, of course, is that Amazon wasn't anticipating this level of demand for its Pantry service. In a notice on its website, Amazon says that it has 'temporarily closed' the service because its workers are 'busy restocking' the warehouses. This is due to the high volume of orders, not because there's a lack of food.

Amazon says that it is working with its partners to get its shelves restocked and that customers can still order the items they need from its other stores, including from its Households goods to Fresh (for those in applicable regions) and from Whole Foods stores. Of course, increased demand means some items you seek may be temporarily unavailable at those stores, as well.

Customers who already ordered a Prime Pantry box don't need to worry — Amazon says they will all be shipped.