21 Days Coronavirus Lockdown: Flipkart Shuts Down and Amazon Suspends Sale of Non-essentials

While India has gone into a 21 days Coronavirus lockdown, despite the Government order stating that delivery of all essential items including food, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment through ecommerce will be allowed, Flipkart has temporarily suspended all its services, and Amazon has suspended sale of non-essential services.

“We are temporarily suspending our services. Your needs have always been our priority, and our promise is that we will be back to serve you as soon as possible. These are difficult times like no other. Never before have communities stayed apart to stay safe, “ says Flipkart on its website. This is the first time Flipkart has announced the suspension of sales ever since its inception.

In fact, it is not just Flipkart that has suspended all sales. Bengaluru headquartered online grocery store Big Basket has announced that they would not be taking any new orders. “We are currently experiencing unprecedented demand. In light of this, we are restricting access to our website to existing customers only. Please try again in a few hours,” says Big Basket.

Furthermore, Amazon too has put out a message on its website that they had suspended sales of all non-essential items. “To serve customers’ most urgent needs while also ensuring safety of our associates, we are prioritizing all our resources to serve products that are currently high priority for customers. Other products are temporarily unavailable for purchase,” says Amazon on its website.

Myntra, the Indian fashion e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru, also has made a similar announcement “In support of the PM’s announcement regarding the national lockdown, we are temporarily not accepting any new orders. We will inform you when we’re up again. Stay tuned for updates and in the meantime, stay home and stay safe,” says the website.

That said, thousands of people rely on Flipkart, Amazon, and Big Basket for delivery of essentials. Therefore, this move is certainly expected to impact consumers who are already under house arrest due to the 21 Days Coronavirus Lockdown.