Impact of war on e-commerce and supply chains

The world economy has suffered serious shocks, largely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the context of an economy still weakened by the pandemic, together with the recent confinements in China, which could cause setbacks in global supply chains, as well as boosting inflation and shortages of raw materials, according to statements by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Thus, the increase in fuel costs could jeopardize the profitability of online commerce, since 26% of online stores have opted to raise the prices of their shipments and/or products to compensate for the increase in shipping costs. Thus, those who want to keep free shipping will need to increase their sales, as well as the cost of shipping.

In the case of fuels, the price of gasoline has reached historic highs, especially in the United States, where it reached 4,173 dollars per gallon, a price that had not been seen since 2008, when the cost reached 4,114 dollars.

In this context, Amazon will charge anyone in the United States who sells and ships their products through the platform 5% more, as a temporary surcharge for fuel and inflation, in addition to conventional costs.

On the other hand, the transportation company Uber also imposed the application of such a temporary surcharge. Consumers will pay a charge of 0.45 or 0.55 cents on each regular trip and 0.35 or 0.45 on each order they place through Uber Eats, depending on their geolocation.

As we can see, the war adds to a series of events that have hit the global economy in recent years, the effects of which will ripple around the world, through commodity markets and trade links. Russia is a major supplier of oil, gas and metals, and, together with Ukraine, of wheat and corn, so the reduction in the supply of these commodities has led to their soaring prices.

As for energy costs, these have soared mainly due to the rapid pace of economic recovery, as following the outbreak of the pandemic that led to a historically low 2020 global consumption, the ensuing recovery has caused demand to soar, creating further pressure on global supplies. Another factor, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), has been the delay in crucial infrastructure repairs due to the aforementioned contingency.