Amazon reportedly investigating the fact that some of its staff are taking merchant returns

Amazon would investigate whether independent traders operating on their platform are greasing the palms of staff to disclose confidential information on the site, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

According to the report, Amazon staff (mainly located in China) take bribes ranging from 80 to more than $ 2,000 in exchange for internal data such as revisers' metrics and email addresses, as well as services. account manipulation. The newspaper wrote:

The practice, which violates company policy, is particularly pronounced in China, according to some of these people, because the number of sellers is skyrocketing. In addition, Amazon employees in China have relatively low salaries, which could encourage them to take risks.

In exchange for payments ranging from 80 to over $ 2,000, brokers for Amazon employees in Shenzhen offer internal sales measures and e-mail addresses, as well as a deletion service Negative and Restore Prohibited Amazon Accounts.

Third-party brokers would recruit Chinese Amazon employees through applications such as WeChat. They then act as an intermediary, negotiating agreements – often in the form of packages. For example, the Journal has written that a minimum of five journals deleted for $ 300 each (a total of $ 1,500) tends to be standard.

Other internal data types include the e-mail addresses of reviewers, which merchants can then contact to try to obtain benefits such as free or discounted products, as well as sales information. # 39; s purchase. Access to this information allows sellers to play the system by optimizing their listings to reach more customers. In a recent conference with a third party, the newspaper wrote that one of the presenters has even extracted internal information, estimated at $ 80 on the black market.

Amazon has reported a number of cases involving its employees – at least some of whom are in the US – and has "shifted the roles of top leaders in China" to put an end to the blame, the newspaper added. In a statement to the Journal, a spokeswoman for Amazon wrote, "We impose on our employees high ethical standards and anyone who violates our Code faces disciplinary action, including dismissals and legal and criminal penalties. potential.

This is not really a huge surprise – as Amazon has increasingly engulfed large segments of the e-commerce market, it has become one of the most prized locations in the price war and is narrowing every element of its price chain. supply. As Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, said, the company's dominant position in the market has given it an insurmountable advantage for the press and manufacturers:

Since most online shopping searches now start on Amazon, rather than on a search engine, virtually all retailers and manufacturers who want to reach people online have no choice but to settle down. on the Amazon platform.

The obvious problem here is that Amazon is competing with these same companies. Studies and reports show that Amazon exploits their addiction to undermine them as rivals. According to a study by Harvard Business School, for example, when vendors list new products, Amazon monitors their transactions and starts selling their most popular items.

Of course, there are Amazon's "relatively low wages" in China, while working with brokers to sell internal data or games, the system seems to offer a good rate. $ 1,500 can go a long way in Shenzen, where, according to the South China Morning Post, the average middle-income worker earned about 4,415 yuan a month in 2016 (about $ 675 today, corrected for the previous year). ;inflation).

Other issues that appeared on Amazon's platform included counterfeiting, which it committed to fight in 2016, but which continues to be a problem, as well as fake reviews and clicks as well as other attempts to launch his algorithms. As the paper noted earlier this year, competition in China has been particularly fierce, with Amazon's market share having "doubled in the past five years to more than $ 550 million". directly to consumers. If sellers do not land on the front page, they risk losing their business to those who do.