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The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 17 states on Tuesday sued Amazon in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington,\u00a0alleging anticompetitive practices that they say hurt consumers and Amazon\u2019s marketplace sellers alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies,\u201d FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. \u201cThe complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the complaint itself, the FTC declares, \u201cAmazon is a monopolist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amazon tactics the FTC describes as problematic include,\u00a0\u201creplacing relevant, organic search results with paid advertisements\u201d and prioritizing its own products above items that it knows are superior, according to the FTC\u2019s press release. The agency, whose commissioners voted 3-0 to take the allegations to court, also said that Amazon charges sellers steep fulfillment and other fees that ultimately drive up prices for shoppers and unfairly makes it a \u201cvirtual necessity\u201d for sellers to obtain eligibility for its Prime program.<\/p>\n
The payments detailed in the press release include a monthly fee sellers pay for each item sold, plus advertising fees that the FTC said together,\u00a0\u201cforce many sellers to pay close to 50% of their total revenues to Amazon. These fees harm not only sellers but also shoppers, who pay increased prices for thousands of products sold on or off Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FTC also took note of what it calls \u201canti-discounting measures,\u201d including a practice of pushing sellers down in search results if they offer lower prices elsewhere compared to what they advertise on Amazon.<\/p>\n
The FTC and the states are seeking a permanent injunction \u201cthat would prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct and pry loose Amazon\u2019s monopolistic control to restore competition.\u201d The states involved are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement,\u00a0David Zapolsky, Amazon general counsel and senior vice president of global public policy, maintained that the company\u2019s moves have actually fostered competition, and accused the FTC\u2019s focus as having \u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>radically departed from its mission of protecting consumers and competition.\u201d\u00a0He disputed the case \u201con the facts and the law\u201d and said his team looks forward to making their case in court.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon\u2019s store,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the FTC gets its way, the result would be fewer products to choose from, higher prices, slower deliveries for consumers and reduced options for small businesses \u2014 the opposite of what antitrust law is designed to do.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Retail](\"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/RETAIL-ONLINE-TRAINING-728-X-90.png\")
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