FTC's Amazon complaint zeros in on seller prices, logistics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) that accused the online retail giant of overcharging customers and independent sellers on its platforms as the $1 trillion company sought to illegally maintain monopoly power.
These are the specific allegations included in the FTC's 172-page complaint:
ONLINE SUPERSTORE, SERVICES MONOPOLIES
*The agency alleged that Amazon had a monopoly in an online superstore market. In 2021, Amazon had 77% of the market, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) had 13% and Target 2%.
*The agency also said that Amazon had a monopoly in the online marketplace for services, where Amazon has more than 70% of the market. The FTC said that more than 160 million people in the United States visit Amazon's website each month.
PUNISHES SELLERS FOR LOWER PRICES ELSEWHERE
* The complaint alleged Amazon uses a sophisticated network of web crawlers that identify which of its sellers offer their products more cheaply on other platforms. Amazon allegedly punishes those sellers, who make up about 60% of Amazon's sales, by making them harder to find on its platform.
«Because Amazon's anti-discounting conduct punishes sellers who offer lower prices at rival online stores with lower fees, many sellers set their price on Amazon- high fees and all — as the price floor across the internet,» the FTC said in the complaint.
REQUIRES USING AMAZON LOGISTICS
* Amazon requires sellers under Amazon's Prime feature to use the company's logistics and delivery services even though many would allegedly prefer to use a cheaper service or one that would also service customers from other platforms where they sell.
CHARGES HIGH FEES
*The complaint alleges Amazon raised average fulfillment
Read more on investing.com
