The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today accepted sets of commitments from 2 major tech corporations - Amazon and Meta - as a result of separate investigations. These will help protect fair competition on each of their retail platforms - Amazon Marketplace and Facebook Marketplace.
Amazon Marketplace
Commitments secured by the CMA from Amazon will help ensure that third-party Marketplace sellers can compete on a level-playing field and that UK customers get access to the best deals.
Most sales on Amazon - everything from saucepans to cosmetics - take place through the 'Buy Box'. By giving independent sellers that use the Marketplace a fair chance of their offers being featured in the 'Buy Box', the commitments will help ensure that customers do not miss out on attractive product offers.
In addition, Amazon will be prevented from using Marketplace data it obtains from third-party sellers to give itself an unfair competitive advantage and will allow sellers to negotiate their own delivery rates directly with independent providers of Prime delivery services. Compliance with these commitments will be monitored by an independent trustee that will be approved by the CMA.
The CMA launched an investigation in July 2022 into concerns that Amazon was abusing its position as the UK's leading online retail platform. This included concerns that Amazon was giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business over competing sellers that use Amazon Marketplace, and to sellers that use Amazon's own warehousing and delivery services rather than rival logistics businesses. In July 2023, the CMA launched a consultation on the commitments offered by Amazon during its investigation.
