Nov. 3 (UPI) — Britain’s consumer watchdog said on Friday it has secured commitments from Amazon and Meta in separate cases assuring level playing fields that would benefit sellers and customers who use their digital platforms.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has approved commitments from Amazon and Meta after two investigations over charges of unfair practices connected to their marketplaces.
“We welcome the constructive resolution of our concerns in a way that benefits people and businesses and expect to see more of this kind of resolution once the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill comes into force,” Sarah Cardell, the chief executive of the CMA, said in a statement.
The CMA said Amazon would ensure that third-party sellers in the Amazon Marketplace will have opportunities to have their products placed in the “Buy Box” that gives users the option to purchase or add an item to their cart in one click.
“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,” the CMA said.
Third-party sellers on Amazon will also be granted the opportunity to negotiate their own delivery rates directly with providers of Prime delivery services, while Amazon will be barred from using marketplace data it obtains from third-party sellers in order to “give itself an unfair competitive advantage.”
Meta signed commitments to allow competitors of Facebook Marketplace that advertise on Meta’s platforms to opt out of their data being used to improve Facebook Marketplace.
It also agreed to limit how it uses ad data when developing its products.
“Without these measures in place, Meta risks having an unfair competitive advantage that could distort competition. Going forward, competitors of Facebook Marketplace that advertise on Meta platforms can ‘opt out’ of their data being used to improve Facebook Marketplace,” the CMA said.
Ann Pope, senior director for antitrust enforcement at the CMA, said Amazon’s commitments as they help thousands of independent British sellers to compete on a level playing field against Amazon’s retail arm.
