The online sales giant Amazon has reached an agreement to close two investigations by Brussels for infringements of competition, in particular in the use of data from independent retailers who sell on its site, the European Commission announced on Tuesday.
In July, the US group had proposed changes to its practices to meet Brussels’ concerns. “The Commission has accepted the commitments offered by Amazon,” the EU Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, announced at a press conference.
Amazon still disagrees
“We are satisfied to have responded to the concerns of the European Commission and to have resolved these doubts,” reacted a spokesman for the distributor. “Although we still disagree with several of the preliminary conclusions of the European Commission, we are committed to a constructive approach,” he stressed.
The US platform has a double role: it provides independent sellers with a marketplace where they can sell products directly to consumers, and it sells products itself as a retailer, in competition with these sellers.
The European Commission had opened an investigation in July 2019, accusing Amazon of relying on commercial data from independent retailers to calibrate its offer, considering that this distorts competition.
Suspicions of preferential treatment questioned
It opened a second investigation in November 2020 on suspicion of preferential treatment of sellers using its logistics and delivery services. In closing the first case, Amazon committed in particular to “refrain from using non-public data related to, or extracted from, the activities of independent sellers on its marketplace for its retail activities that compete with these sellers.”
As for the second investigation, it promised in particular, as part of its Prime program, to allow sellers to “freely choose any carrier for their logistics and delivery services.”
Amazon was also suspected of bias in giving sellers access to the “Buy Box,” a button that allows customers to place items directly into their shopping cart and highlights a seller’s offer on a chosen product.
A reporting platform soon to be set up for sellers
The platform has promised to provide “equal treatment to all sellers when ranking their offers for the purpose of selecting the winner of the ‘Buy Box’ and “to show a second offer that competes with the winners’ offer”. differentiated from the first in terms of price or delivery”. These commitments were the subject of negotiations with the Commission, which obtained some improvements from Amazon.
In particular, the group has committed to introducing a centralized complaints system open to all sellers and carriers who wish to report breaches of certain competition rules.
Source: BFM TV
