July 26 (UPI) — Amazon offered to change how it treats British third-party sellers to satisfy Competition and Markets Authority competition concerns, the watchdog said Wednesday.
The CMA said if accepted the Amazon changes will make sure third-party sellers “have a fair chance of being prominently displayed to customers in the ‘Buy Box’ on a product page when they are competing against Amazon’s own product offers.”
“The CMA’s preliminary view is that the offer from Amazon addresses its competition concerns and the CMA is now consulting on the commitments put forward before deciding whether to accept them,” the CMA said.
Under the proposals, Amazon said it will ensure that it does not use rival seller’s data to gain unfair advantage over other sellers and will treat all product offers equally when it comes to which will be featured in the “Buy Box.”
It will also allow third-party businesses to negotiate their own shipping rates directly with independent Prime delivery services.
Amazon will also be required to appoint an independent trustee to monitor the company’s compliance with these commitments.
“Amazon’s commitments to the CMA will help ensure that third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace can compete on a level-playing field against Amazon’s own retail business and, ultimately, mean that customers in the UK get a better deal,” CMA Senior Director of Enforcement Ann Pope.
CMA is consulting on Amazon’s proposal until Sept. 1 when a decision is expected on whether to accept the terms of the proposal.
The CMA got involved after it heard that Amazon was using its market strength to gain advantage over thousands of businesses using Amazon’s Marketplace to reach customers.
In June, the CMA approved Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot Corp. The regulator said then that iRobot has enough market rivals to ensure strong competition in Britain’s robot vacuum cleaner industry.