Dive Brief:

• Overstock.com is cutting prices on emergency preparedness supplies​ by 15% after noticing traffic and search terms for such items almost tripled on the site. Overstock's CEO Patrick Byrne says this is related to news reports of the Ebola outbreak in Africa and a few cases in the United States.

• The retailer is offering the discount on food storage containers, hand-crank radios and lights, sleeping bags, and more.

• The discount is available only to its “Club O” loyalty program members, which is free to first responders, students, and military personnel, and $19.95 annually otherwise.

Dive Insight:

Byrne says he doesn’t “want to be part of any panic,” but he clearly knows an opportunity when he sees one. The spike in interest in emergency supplies, if it’s really due to fears of Ebola risk, is reminiscent of a similar rise in demand for such gear during the “Y2K” bug panic before the new millennium. Most likely that tub of freeze-dried food won’t be needed any time soon, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.