EU says Amazon violated antitrust rules; opens a second investigation

LONDON – The European Commission said on Tuesday that Amazon broke European antitrust rules by using data from independent sellers to its own advantage.

He also announced a second official investigation into the company’s e-commerce processes.

In a statement, the Commission said Amazon is using data from third-party sellers – such as order numbers, revenue, and number of visitors – to inform its strategic business decisions, such as reducing product prices.

The problem arises because of Amazon’s dual role which sees it both selling products itself and acting as a platform for independent sellers – sometimes rivals..

“Data on the activity of third-party sellers should not be used for the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor of these sellers,” said Margrethe Vestager, EU competition officer, in the statement. .

The move comes after the Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, launched an investigation into the online retailer in July 2019 over concerns over anti-competitive behavior.

Amazon said it did not agree with the Commission’s claims and “will continue to do everything possible to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts.” He said he made up less than 1% of the global retail market.

“No company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades than Amazon,” the e-commerce giant said.

The Commission’s second antitrust investigation will examine how the company chooses sellers who offer products through Amazon Prime, its premium paid service. It will examine the possible preferential treatment of Amazon’s own retail business and those who use its logistics and delivery services (known as “fulfillment by Amazon” sellers) over other sellers.

It will also look at Amazon’s ‘buy box’ feature, which gives customers a one-click button to add a product to their cart. U.S. regulators and third-party sellers have already asked Amazon about products placed in the all-important buy box. Amazon argues that the Buy Box presents the offer that it thinks customers will prefer overall, while taking things like price, delivery speed, and Prime into account.

Vestager added that while going through 80 million transactions and 100 million products listed on the Amazon Marketplace, “it has become increasingly clear that there may be something we should dig deeper into about the Buy Box. “

The company will now have the possibility to examine the conclusions of the Commission and to respond to them in writing or by a hearing.

Clarification: The European Commission has confirmed that its Statement of Objections, released on Tuesday, does not constitute legal action against Amazon.

Anne Palmer of CNBC contributed to this report.