Summary of why Amazon Japan was inspected for alleged antitrust violations and what has happened so far
On November 26, 2024, Amazon Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Amazon,
Japan competition authorities raid Amazon Japan, source says | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/japan-authorities-raid-amazon-japan-possible-anti-competitive-practices-nikkei-2024-11-26/
Amazon Japan raided by anti-monopoly authorities | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/26/amazon-japan-raided-by-anti-monopoly-authorities/
On the Amazon platform, there are products sold by Amazon and products sold by 'marketplace' sellers other than Amazon. You can check the difference by checking the 'Sold by' on the product page; anything other than 'Amazon' is sold by a marketplace seller.
For products sold on the marketplace, there is only one section called the 'cart box' in which sellers are given priority for displaying each product. According to the Asahi Shimbun and other sources, Amazon Japan is suspected of requiring sellers to 'set competitive prices compared to other online shopping sites' and 'use logistics services handled by Amazon Japan for inventory management, shipping, etc.' as conditions for selecting sellers to be featured in this section.
The Fair Trade Commission suspects that these actions constitute 'abuse of dominant bargaining position,' which is prohibited by the Antimonopoly Act.
The Cart Box is called the 'Buy Box' in English-speaking countries, and just like in Japan, there have been cases overseas where it has been investigated for suspected violations of antitrust laws.
In November 2020, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, announced that it would launch an investigation to determine whether the Buy Box labeling was being carried out arbitrarily, as the decision was left to Amazon's discretion.
In July 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority also launched an investigation into Amazon over allegations that it was treating its own products differently from marketplace sellers.
Amazon under investigation by UK Competition and Markets Authority for alleged anti-competitive practices - GIGAZINE
In October 2022, Julie Hunter, chair of the British consumer protection group Consumer & Public Interest Network, and others filed a lawsuit against Amazon for £900 million (about 170 billion yen), claiming that Amazon prioritizes products sold by the company and products from sellers who pay large amounts of money to Amazon in the Buy Box.
Hunter and his team pointed out that many sellers were excluded from the Buy Box despite being able to sell the same products at lower prices and under better terms, and cited the fact that more than 80% of users make purchases after seeing the Buy Box, claiming that 'tens of millions of users in the UK have ended up paying more than they should have because of Amazon.'
Amazon faces $1.5 billion lawsuit over antitrust violations by giving preferential treatment to its own products - GIGAZINE
In addition, in June 2023, a consumer protection organization named Robert Hammond filed a lawsuit with almost the same content, but the court determined that 'Mr. Hammond's claims are more qualified than Mr. Hunter's,' and Mr. Hunter's lawsuit was temporarily stayed and Mr. Hammond's lawsuit was allowed to proceed. If Mr. Hammond's lawsuit is unsuccessful, Mr. Hunter's lawsuit will be resumed.
The consumer group's lawsuit is ongoing, while a regulatory investigation ended with Amazon making concessions.
A 2020 European Commission investigation found that Amazon had promised to 'treat all sellers equally, regardless of whether they pay for Amazon's logistics services,' and the European Commission endorsed this.
A 2022 Competition and Markets Authority investigation concluded with Amazon promising to 'apply objectively verifiable and non-discriminatory terms and criteria in selecting Buy Box slots.'
Although Amazon has avoided penalties in the EU, it is facing a crisis in its home country of the United States. In September 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly interfering in product prices and other illegal acts that hinder competition, with a formal trial scheduled for October 2026.
Returning to Japan, this is the third time that the Japan Fair Trade Commission has investigated Amazon Japan for alleged violations of the Antimonopoly Act. The first time was in 2016 , when Amazon was accused of demanding that its product prices not be higher than those of other sites, and the second time was in 2018 , when Amazon was accused of forcing its suppliers to compensate it for part of the discounted sales price when it procured products for its own website from other companies.
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