Italy anti-trust regulator has fined Amazon $1.2 billion (£910,000) for violating anti-trust laws. It claimed that Amazon had exploited its market dominance by promoting its own logistics service, Fulfillment by Amazon, to the exclusion of all others (FBA).
Businesses, according to the company, have required to use the FBA service in order to take advantage of important perks. Such as selling products with Prime shipping at no additional cost to customers and participating in Black Friday specials.
Amazon expressed “strong disagreement” with the verdict and stated that it will appeal.
As a result of demanding usage of Amazon’s own service in order to access important benefits and events. The regulator determined that Amazon unfairly disadvantages third-party vendors.
Third-party sellers can no longer use the Amazon Prime logo on transactions that haven’t handled by the company’s fulfillment center, Amazon clarified. In his statement, the regulator maintained that merchants’ ability to use such features is “critical” to their ability to be successful on Amazon’s Marketplace.
It further stated that corrective measures would be implemented, which would be subject to assessment by a monitoring trustee. A statement from Amazon said that the fine was “unjustified and unfair”. “We strongly disagree with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority and aim to appeal”.
Seller Fulfilled Prime service (SFP)
A small and medium-sized business (SMB) has a variety of alternatives for selling their products both online and offline. One of those options includes selling on Amazon.
The company says it is always investing in the growth of the 18,000 Italian SMBs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that sell on Amazon, and it offers a variety of tools to its sellers, including those who handle their own shipments.
The firm also stated that third-party sellers can take advantage of its Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) service. Which allows them to take advantage of Prime perks without having to use the company’s own logistics infrastructure.
It is the second fine levied against Amazon by Italian regulators in as many weeks. Also a $228 million (£173 million) fined by Italy against Amazon and Apple for restricting Beats headphone sales by confining them to a small number of dealers.
Both Apple and Amazon have stated that they intend to file an appeal against the penalties.
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