Amidst the virus outbreak responsible for causing pneumonia, the demand for face masks has risen immensely. It has also led to the face masks being sold out and a few retailers even raising prices for such face masks, prompting JD.com to ban or unlist such abnormal price surges.
For those unaware, China has been hit with a virus outbreak that has been causing pneumonia. The thing that is particularly dangerous about this virus is that it’s a new breed named coronavirus which is currently more difficult to treat in case of infection. Thus, the market has seen an explosive demand for face masks that citizens of the nation are buying for protection.
As of right now, masks are being sold on various e-commerce websites online as well, including Taobao and JD who are also two of the largest online retailers in China. Furthermore, other stores like Minnesota Minding and Manufacturing or 3M said that several varieties of its regular face masks have been sold out as of Tuesday morning (21st January 2020).
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On top of this more brands that manufacture and retail face masks have also been seeing a surge in demand and have reported their troubles in keeping a sufficient stock. This has created a scenario with an excess demand and shortage of supply, which in turn has driven up the prices of such masks. These masks can also be bought from third party retailers but are being offered at higher prices.
JD.com is one of the first to address these issues as the company bans raising prices for face masks. Additionally, anyone found offering such masks at abnormally high prices will be removed from its website altogether. The move is being done to guarantee the stability of the pricing of the crucial commodity. The online retailing giant is also working on gaining consistent resources to ensure supply, proper warehousing and distribution control.
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