Amazon comes under fire with EU Commission

While the global pandemic has left a staggering number of smaller businesses and retailers struggling to stay afloat, online retailer Amazon’s revenue has soared. The business model of the retail giant has meant it is well placed to deal with the way peoples shopping habits have changed this year.

This week however, the European Commission have accused Amazon of illegally gaining an advantage in the EU marketplace. The Commission have accused Amazon of collecting the sales data of independent retailers in an effort to establish bestselling products with the biggest profit margins with the aim of changing its own practises and focusing its efforts on these products.

The Commission’s vice president, Margrethe Vestager, has explained how this data is being used illegally by Amazon to distort competition in online retail markets. The news is no doubt a kick in the teeth to smaller retailers struggling in the midst of a pandemic; after all Amazon has recently announced that its revenue for the third quarter of 2020 was a staggering $6.3 billion.

Amazon has been under investigation since July in relation to this matter. Millions of transactions and products have been analysed in the investigation. Amazon has responded to the official statement of objection explaining that it disagrees with the findings.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of the findings; if found guilty, Amazon could be liable for a fine as high as £15 billion.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.