Amazon is being investigated by the competition control body for fear that buyers might get a gross deal because it prioritizes the promotion of its own products.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has raised the alarm about potentially anti-competitive practices being used by the American giant that could lead to a “worse deal” for customers.
He said he will focus on how the brand sets eligibility criteria for selling with its Prime label, which includes benefits such as free shipping, as well as choosing which items are featured prominently with options to “buy now “.
It will also investigate how the retail giant collects and uses data from third-party sellers, including whether this gives Amazon an unfair advantage in relation to business decisions.
The overall goal is to find out if Amazon has a “dominant position in the UK and whether it is abusing that position and distorting competition by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail or seller businesses,” the CMA said.
Sarah Cardell, CMA’s attorney general, said it was important to investigate whether the brand was giving an unfair boost to its own business as “millions of people across the UK rely on Amazon’s services for fast delivery of everything types of products with the click of a button ”.
The move comes as Brussels closes a deal with the online retail giant amid EU competition concerns.
According to the Financial Times, Amazon plans to share more data with rivals and offer buyers a wider selection of products as part of the deal that is expected to be formally agreed after the summer.
Amazon isn’t the only tech giant closely watched by the watchdog, which also revealed Wednesday that it was investigating Microsoft’s $ 69 billion (£ 58 billion) acquisition of Activision by the maker of Call of Duty. Duty Activision Blizzard.
Amazon said the company was working with the CMA in its research, adding that more than 50% of the products it sells come from small businesses.
“There are now over 65,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK selling to Amazon, supporting more than 175,000 jobs across the country,” a spokesman said.
UK regulators have been cracking down on Big Tech in recent years. The latest CMA investigations come a year after the control dog opened an investigation into Amazon and Google’s alleged failure to avoid an influx of fake reviews that make the products advertised on its websites look artificially popular.
Last year, Britain unveiled plans for a new Digital Markets Unit within the watchdog to prevent Silicon Valley giants from shifting competition and stifling innovation.
The unit was created so that the watchdog could more easily intervene in acquisitions by large technology companies with “strategic market status,” although experts warned that the start-up scene would look very much damaged by proposals that would almost ban big tech companies. offers.
However, Rocio Concha, director of policies and advocacy for Which ?, said it was vital to equip the unit with powers that protect consumers.
She said, “That [Amazon probe] it is the latest in a growing body of research into the concern that technology giants may limit competition and harm consumers.
“While they are welcome, these cases may be slow and UK consumers would be better served by the government empowering the Digital Markets Unit so that it can introduce and enforce a competition-friendly regime for digital markets.”