During negotiations, Amazon "repeatedly referenced" its ability to destock the unnamed company's products on as a "bargaining chip to force terms" that were "unrelated to retail distribution." Alexa like 'a shark on a surfboard' The report references an exchange with an unnamed company, wherein Amazon leveraged its e-commerce dominance to force acceptance of certain terms and conditions. Amazon has maintained that the buy box predicts the price consumers would most likely choose after reviewing competing products elsewhere.Īmazon also employs "strong-arm tactics" in negotiations with vendors who sell directly to the company, lawmakers said. This directly contradicts Amazon's previous explanation for how the buy box works. The buy box offers customers a one-click button to add a listed product to their shopping cart or buy it. "For sellers, Amazon functions as a 'quasistate,' and many 'ellers are more worried about a case being opened on Amazon than in actual court,'" lawmakers said.Īmazon's own documents show that it manipulates its all-important buy box algorithm "to do what is best for Amazon's bottom line, not customers" lawmakers said. Third-party merchants told the subcommittee that they're often left without any recourse after their account has been shut down. When sellers have to appeal an issue with Amazon, they face such "atrocious levels of customer service" that often they resort to a "Jeff Bomb," or an email to CEO Jeff Bezos "to plead their case." Similarly, Amazon sought to acquire Quidsi in 2010 after it engaged in an "aggressive price war" to weaken its subsidiary, which was a competitor to Amazon. Zappos gave Endless access to "hold-out" brands that previously "refused to sell on " or Endless, lawmakers said. Lawmakers also found direct evidence that Amazon viewed Zappos and Quidsi as "competitive threats prior to acquiring them," citing documents reviewed by subcommittee staff.īefore Amazon acquired Zappos in 2009, it referred to the online shoe retailer as one of the "primary competitors" of Amazon's now-defunct fashion website. If they were going to stop at retail and computing, you're safe. But it's hard to predict what Amazon wants to get into. As long as Amazon doesn't want to get into ridesharing. If you get too close you'll get incinerated. So, you have to be far enough from Amazon and be doing something that they wouldn't do. If you're a net consumer of Amazon's infrastructure, like Uber, then you're okay. One unnamed venture capital investor in the cloud market told lawmakers: "I think of Amazon as the sun. In some cases, the threat of competing with Amazon can push start-ups to avoid certain industries entirely. The "steep costs" associated with building a logistics network that's comparable in size to what Amazon has built makes "a challenger to Amazon unlikely," they said. This combination has allowed Amazon to ship a growing number number of products itself, rivaling UPS and FedEx, and serves as one of several barriers to entry for competitors. They concluded that Amazon's role as a dominant provider of cloud-computing services and its power in other markets creates a conflict of interest that "Amazon has the incentive and ability to exploit." Amazon has also imposed barriers to entry for other voice-enabled device manufacturers by pricing its Alexa-enabled products below cost, lawmakers said.Īmazon also operates more than 150 fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations, along with a sprawling network of planes, vans and contracted delivery drivers. online retail market, which is higher than researcher eMarketer's estimate of 38%.Īmazon has stifled competition in other areas than retail, lawmakers found. They said Amazon likely controls about 50% or more of the U.S. The committee's report bucked industry figures estimating Amazon's controlling share of the e-commerce market. In Amazon's case, for instance, the company could be required to split apart its core e-commerce site from the third-party marketplace where independent vendors sell their products, and from the Amazon Web Services cloud-computing service. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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