Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Amazon being investigated in UK for practices which may give customers 'worse deal'

Amazon being investigated in UK for practices which may give customers 'worse deal'

"Any loss of competition is a loss to consumers and could lead to them paying more for products, being offered lower quality items or having less choice," the Competition and Markets Authority said.
Amazon is being investigated by Britain's antitrust watchdog over concerns that some of its practices in the UK may be anticompetitive and result in a worse deal for shoppers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will look at whether Amazon is distorting competition by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business or sellers that use its services, compared with other third-party sellers in the Amazon UK Marketplace.

The investigation will look at how the tech giant is using third-party seller data and how it decides the criteria for selling under the Prime label.

The CMA will also scrutinise how Amazon selects the preferred choice in the "Buy Box", which is displayed prominently on Amazon's product pages and provides customers with one-click options to "Buy Now" or "Add to Basket" from a specific seller.

Sarah Cardell, general counsel at the CMA, said: "Millions of people across the UK rely on Amazon's services for fast delivery of all types of products at the click of a button.

"This is an important area so it's right that we carefully investigate whether Amazon is using third-party data to give an unfair boost to its own retail business and whether it favours sellers who use its logistics and delivery services - both of which could weaken competition.

"Thousands of UK businesses use Amazon to sell their products and it is important they are able to operate in a competitive market.
"Any loss of competition is a loss

to consumers and could lead to them paying more for products, being offered lower quality items or having less choice."

As the probe progresses, the CMA said it will aim to communicate with the European Commission, which has been looking into similar concerns in the EU.

EU regulators charged Amazon with breaking antitrust rules two years ago, alleging that it was collecting data from independent companies that sell through its marketplace and then using it to benefit its own retail business.

Information collected was said to include the number of products ordered and shipped, sellers' revenues on the marketplace, the number of visits to sellers' offers and sellers' past performance.

The data allowed Amazon to adjust its offers accordingly, the European Commission claimed.

A second EU investigation was opened to examine whether Amazon was giving preferential treatment to its own offers and those of sellers using its logistics and delivery services.

The issues stem from Amazon's dual role as a platform: it provides a marketplace for independent sellers - which gives it access to a lot of data - but also sells products within the same marketplace, the European Commission said.

An Amazon spokesperson said: "We will work closely with the CMA during their investigation, although we believe we've always worked hard to help small businesses selling on Amazon to succeed, which is in both their and our best interests.

"We remain proud of the continued support we provide to businesses of all sizes across the UK. More than 50% of all products sold on Amazon are from small businesses, and sales from our selling partners continue to grow faster than Amazon's retail sales.

"There are now more than 65,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK that sell on Amazon, supporting more than 175,000 jobs across the country."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
×