Swine Flu worries could benefit eBay Amazon and other ecommerce venues

The news of the Swine Flu (also known as the H1N1 virus) is all over the media. It has been labeled a pandemic and cases have been reported from all over the world from countries as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand. Vice President Joe Biden has urged people to avoid mass transit, airline travel and crowded places.

Sales of surgical masks have doubled in the last 4 days and Prestige, the nation's largest producer of surgical masks, is scrambling to keep up with demand. Stores are reporting a run on their inventory.and not surprisingly, surgical masks have also been Amazon's (www.amazon.com) top seller in the health category.

As bad as all of this is, there could be a silver lining for the ecommerce business. Worried consumers might stay in the safety of their home to do their shopping instead of going to crowded malls, flea markets and the big box stores to fulfill their shopping wishes. While surgical masks are likely to remain a hot item for teh moment, sellers of other items should benefit as well.

Traditionally, this time of the year is when online sales usually slow down as people get caught up in summer vacations, traveling and spending more time outdoors. This crisis might buck that trend this year.

It's too early to tell but within a month there should be harder statistics to see if there has been an increase in online selling activity as opposed to this time in previous years.