The European Union has launched an antitrust investigation into US technological company Amazon to determine whether the use of sensitive information it collects from independent sellers as a shopping platform gives it competitive advantages when it acts as a retailer, the European Commission said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2019) The European Union has launched an antitrust investigation into US technological company Amazon to determine whether the use of sensitive information it collects from independent sellers as a shopping platform gives it competitive advantages when it acts as a retailer, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
"E-commerce has boosted retail competition and brought more choice and better prices. We need to ensure that large online platforms don't eliminate these benefits through anti-competitive behaviour. I have therefore decided to take a very close look at Amazon's business practices and its dual role as marketplace and retailer, to assess its compliance with EU competition rules," Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said, as quoted in a statement.
The commission specified that it would probe whether and how the use of marketplace data about sellers � including their products and transactions � by Amazon as a retailer "affects competition."
In particular, the investigation will look into standard agreements struck between the shopping platform and independent sellers and the role the accumulated data plays in selecting winners of Amazon's Buy Box, a button on product page allowing customers to add items directly to their shopping carts.
The commission noted that the opening of a probe did not "prejudge its outcome."
