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| Italy fined Amazon $1.3 billion |
Italian antitrust authorities have asked Italian sellers to use the logistics service Amazon Fulfillment to pay a 1.13 billion euro ($1.28 billion) fine to Amazon for abusing its dominant online shopping position. About the company in China.
Amazon announced that it would appeal the decision. In a year-long battle against fears of online competition, the fine is one of the heaviest imposed by any single country in the European Union.
Amazon and Apple were fined by Italian antitrust authorities last month for planning to restrict shipments of Apple and Beats products. But Amazon's fine was only $77 million.
The European Union also fined Amazon $888 million for violating strict EU data protection laws.
In the latest decision, the Italian Antimonopoly Authority (AGCM) is particularly interested in the benefits that the company offers to sellers on its platform, who also pay for the use of Amazon logistics services.
Sellers registered with FBA can use Prime to brand their products to run and attend corporate events such as Black Friday Sales, Prime Day, and Cyber Monday.
"The investigation has confirmed that these Amazon.it platform functionality is essential to the success of sellers and to increase sales," the Italian competition authority said in a statement. By doing so, Amazon harmed competing e-commerce logistics experts and prevented them from recommending themselves to online retailers as a service provider of comparable quality to Amazon. As a result, these measures widened the wedge between Amazon and its competitors in the e-commerce delivery industry.
Amazon accused of abusing its market position
The Italian competition authority said the size of the fines reflected the intensity and duration of Amazon's strategy over the years.
In addition to paying fines, the company also needs to change its business practices in Italy. Offer the same sales perks and visibility to all third-party sellers on their platform. It has nothing to do with the use of Fulfillment by Amazon.
The company has a full year to comply with this requirement. The company said in a statement: We strongly reject the decision of the Italian Competition Authority and will appeal. The proposed fines and compensation are insufficient and disproportionate.
It also states that sellers who are not affiliated with Fulfillment by Amazon can use Seller Fulfillment Prime. This enables them to take advantage of Prime benefits without having to resort to company logistics.
More than half of Amazon's annual sales in Italy come from small and medium-sized businesses, the company said. Your success is the core of our economic model. Small and medium sized businesses have multiple channels to sell their products and our platform is just one of them. We continue to invest to support the development of 18,000 Italian SMEs sold through our platform. We offer a variety of tools for sellers, including sellers who manage their shipments themselves.