Amazon’s antitrust investigation is underway in the UK

According to the latest report, the British antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), announced today that it has launched an antitrust investigation into Amazon to assess whether Amazon favors its own sellers, thereby putting third-party sellers on its platform at a competitive disadvantage.

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The CMA said Amazon’s behavior to influence sellers may be “anti-competitive” and ultimately prevent consumers from getting better deals. The CMA also said the investigation will focus on three main areas, including how Amazon collects and uses third-party seller data and how it sets standards for “priming products.”

Before the CMA, the European Commission was launching a similar investigation into Amazon. In November 2020, the European Commission accused Amazon of using its size, power, and data to gain an unfair advantage over smaller merchants selling on its platform.

In addition, the EU is also investigating whether Amazon has given preferential treatment to its own retail goods, as well as marketplace sellers who use its logistics and delivery services. News emerged in November that Amazon was seeking to settle the two EU antitrust investigations, hoping to avoid potentially hefty fines and changes to its business model.

Last month, Amazon proposed to share marketplace data with sellers on its platform and increase the visibility of rival products on its platform. The move is aimed at persuading EU antitrust regulators to close their investigations by the end of the year without fines.

After a series of major expansions, Amazon had 17 brick-and-mortar stores, 15 Amazon Fresh food stores, and two Amazon 4-star retail stores in the UK at the end of last year. Amazon has yet to comment on the CMA’s investigation today.