Amazon Is Not Too Worried About COVID-19 Omicron Variant Could Affect Year-End Shopping Season

JAKARTA - A senior Amazon.com Inc executive said it was too early to predict how the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would affect consumer spending during this holiday season. However, he advised shoppers to keep shopping for now.

"It's very early in the process of understanding what's going on with the new variant," said Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon's worldwide consumer business, during an interview Sunday morning on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Clark said he was "very optimistic" about the ability of scientists and pharmaceutical companies that have developed effective vaccines to respond to new variants while buyers watched developments.

"Consumers will wait and see what happens ... but will carry on with their lives into this holiday season," Clark said, of the prospects for their e-commerce business.

Clark's comments come against the backdrop of recent supply chain disruptions that the Joe Biden administration has linked to the spread of another variant of the coronavirus, Delta.

The United States and other countries are now imposing travel restrictions after the Omicron variant emerged, which was first detected in South Africa, and is now starting to spread to other parts of the world. In the Netherlands, Dutch health authorities said 13 cases were found among passengers on two flights that landed in Amsterdam on Friday, November 26, after leaving South Africa.

The UK, Denmark, and Australia have also found cases in recent days. While there have been no documented cases in the United States, health experts say a variant may already exist.

Clark said consumers, for now, are forging ahead with reconnecting after a long period of government-mandated lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions.

"People want to have a very discreet holiday season and want to prepare to return to the world if you will. That's what we see in their spending," Clark said, quoted by Reuters.

Separately, he said the pandemic had prompted people to reconsider how they structure their lives and jobs, which contributed to hiring challenges.