WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) announced the launch of a new public affairs campaign in support of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, or U.S. Senate Bill 2992. The campaign pushes back on Amazon’s anticompetitive behaviors on their marketplace platform and its poor treatment of third-party sellers. You can view an explainer video below:
“Amazon uses its marketplace as a trap to unfairly stamp out competition, by taking data from the millions of small businesses that rely on its platform and using it to compete against them,” said NAW CEO Eric Hoplin. “Today, NAW is speaking up to say, ‘it’s time to level the playing field,’ and we urge Congress to restore fair economic competition and to protect Main Street businesses by passing S. 2992,” concluded Hoplin.
“The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will ensure a level playing field for third-party sellers and NAW members on Amazon’s marketplace,” said Alex Hendrie, NAW Associate Vice President for Government Relations. “It does not give third-party sellers a windfall or special advantage, nor does it break up Amazon or prohibit Amazon from selling their own products on their marketplace,” concluded Hendrie.
Amazon has a troubling history of taking data from third-party sellers on its platform to create similar products which show up prominently in the marketplace, while the original small business product disappears or falls deeper into the search results. This is blatantly unfair and leaves small businesses at a disadvantage when competing against Amazon. Many third-party sellers also view Amazon as a bully who is constantly strong-arming them and threatening to kick them off the platform. For the majority of sellers, there is no real alternative marketplace for them to sell on if they are kicked off of Amazon’s platform.
“Amazon continues to grow its monopolistic power by acquiring grocery stores, healthcare facilities and so much more. When is it going to be enough? How much longer until we live in the United States of Amazon? Let’s pass S.2992.”
Meanwhile, the state of California is suing Amazon, alleging antitrust law violations:
NEW YORK (AP) — California is suing Amazon, accusing the company of violating the state’s antitrust and unfair competition laws. The state says Amazon has stifled competition and engaged in practices that push sellers to maintain higher prices on products on other sites. In an 84-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, the California Attorney General’s office says Seattle-based Amazon had effectively barred sellers from offering lower prices for products elsewhere through contract provisions that harm the ability of other retailers to compete. The lawsuit mirrors another complaint filed last year by the District of Columbia, which was dismissed by a district judge earlier this year. That decision is being appealed.
The full AP article can be found here.
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