Global supply chain disruptions are not abstract concepts for Amazon sellers. They are the reason your inventory does not arrive on time, your costs spike overnight, and your best-selling product goes out of stock for weeks. The COVID-19 crisis in India was a wake-up call for every seller who relied on a single-source supply chain, and the lessons from that disruption are more relevant now than ever.
Insights from Andrew Morgans and the Marknology team in Kansas City.
What Happened: The India Supply Chain Crisis
In early 2021, India experienced a devastating second wave of COVID-19 that overwhelmed hospitals and shut down large portions of the country's manufacturing and shipping infrastructure. For Amazon sellers in the US, the impact was immediate and painful:
- Factory shutdowns: Manufacturers across India halted production as workers fell ill and lockdowns were imposed. Sellers waiting on orders saw lead times stretch from weeks to months.
- Port congestion: Indian ports experienced severe backlogs as container availability dropped and shipping lines rerouted capacity. Getting goods out of India became a logistics nightmare.
- Raw material shortages: India is a major supplier of raw materials including textiles, pharmaceuticals, spices, and chemicals. Even sellers not sourcing finished goods from India were affected by upstream supply disruptions.
- Price spikes: Container shipping rates from India to the US skyrocketed, with some routes seeing 3-5x increases in freight costs virtually overnight.
Why This Matters for Every Amazon Seller
Even if you were not sourcing from India during this crisis, the ripple effects were impossible to avoid. Global supply chains are interconnected. A disruption in one region creates bottlenecks, price increases, and capacity shortages that cascade worldwide.
The Single-Source Risk
The sellers who got hurt the worst were the ones with a single supplier in a single country. When that one source goes down, your entire business goes down with it. This is not a theoretical risk. It happens repeatedly: COVID shutdowns in China (2020), the Suez Canal blockage (2021), India's second wave (2021), port congestion in the US (2021-2022), and Red Sea shipping disruptions (2024).
Inventory as a Competitive Advantage
During supply chain crises, the sellers who stay in stock win. When your competitors go out of stock, their organic rankings drop, their customers start looking for alternatives, and your product captures that demand. Being well-stocked during a supply chain disruption is one of the most powerful competitive advantages in ecommerce.
How to Build a Resilient Amazon Supply Chain
1. Diversify Your Suppliers
This is the single most important thing you can do. If you are sourcing from one factory in one country, start building relationships with alternative suppliers now. You do not need to split your orders immediately, but you need backup options that are ready to activate.
- Identify at least two suppliers for your core products, ideally in different countries or regions
- Run test orders with your backup suppliers so you know the quality before you need them
- Consider nearshoring options (Mexico, Central America) for faster shipping and lower geopolitical risk
2. Maintain Safety Stock
Lean inventory is efficient in stable times and catastrophic in disrupted times. Increase your safety stock levels for your top-selling products. Yes, it ties up capital. But a stockout during peak demand is far more expensive than carrying a few extra weeks of inventory.
3. Negotiate Flexible Terms
Work with your suppliers on flexible production terms that let you adjust order quantities and timelines when conditions change. Long-term relationships with suppliers give you leverage here. If you are just another anonymous order on Alibaba, you have zero flexibility when things go sideways.
4. Use Amazon's Inventory Tools
Amazon provides demand forecasting and inventory planning tools in Seller Central. They are not perfect, but they are better than guessing. Use them to anticipate demand and plan your reorder points.
5. Build Relationships, Not Just Transactions
When supply chains are disrupted, the suppliers who prioritize your orders are the ones who know you as a partner, not just a purchase order number. Invest in those relationships. Visit your suppliers in person when possible. Communicate consistently, not just when you need something.
Turning Disruption Into Opportunity
Here is what I have learned from helping brands navigate supply chain chaos: the sellers who treat disruptions as a strategic moment rather than a crisis come out stronger on the other side. While your competitors panic, go out of stock, and lose ranking, you stay calm, stay stocked, and capture market share that took them years to build.
Supply chain resilience is not just about avoiding problems. It is about building a business that thrives when conditions are hard, because hard conditions are when the real separation happens.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Marknology do?
Marknology is a Kansas City-based Amazon marketing agency founded by Andrew Morgans in 2015. The agency has managed over $2B in revenue for 300+ brands, offering services including Amazon listing optimization, PPC management, brand strategy, and marketplace expansion.
Who is Andrew Morgans?
Andrew Morgans is the founder and CEO of Marknology, a leading Amazon marketing agency based in Kansas City. He hosts the Startup Hustle podcast and has spoken at conferences across 5 continents about ecommerce and Amazon marketplace strategies.
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Growing on Amazon requires optimized listings, strategic advertising, competitive pricing, strong review generation, and data-driven decision making. Working with an experienced agency like Marknology can accelerate growth significantly.
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A full-service Amazon agency like Marknology handles listing optimization, PPC advertising, brand registry, A+ Content creation, inventory planning, competitor analysis, and marketplace expansion to platforms like Walmart and Target+.
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For brands doing $500K+ in revenue or looking to scale quickly, an agency typically delivers 2-5x ROI through expertise in advertising optimization, listing conversion, and marketplace strategy that would take years to develop in-house.