Amazon has pledged to end two investigations by the European Commission, which it suspects of violating competition rules, in particular by tapping into data from independent retailers selling on its site, Brussels announced on Thursday.
The American online commerce giant has committed to “refrain from using non-public data related to the activities of independent sellers in its marketplace, or derived from them, for its retail activities that compete with these sellers,” the European executive said in a statement. of press.
This response relates to an EU investigation opened in July 2019.
Preferential Treatment
The American company has a double function. You sell products directly on your website, but you also provide competing independent sellers with a marketplace where they can sell to consumers.
The platform was also compromised in the context of a second investigation by the Commission, which suspects that it is biased by giving sellers access to its “Buy Box” (a button that allows buyers to directly place the products they want to buy on your basket), and to your “Prime” premium program.
It was particularly suspicious of preferential treatment of sellers in its market who used the US giant’s delivery services.
“constructive approach”
Many of these charges will be covered by the EU’s Digital Markets Law (DMA), which comes into force next year.
“Although (…) we do not agree with several conclusions of the European Commission, we have taken a constructive approach with the Commission to address its concerns and preserve our ability to serve European customers and the more than 185,000 small and medium-sized European companies”. businesses that sell through our stores,” Amazon said in a statement.
The Commission invites all interested parties to give their opinion before September 9 on these commitments that Amazon has proposed for a period of five years.
Source: BFM TV
