NEW YORK, NY (Reuters) – Amazon faces an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys general for what they call monopolistic pricing to customers and fees to the e-retailers’ third-party sellers.
Amazon maintains that its pricing strategies and tactics help create competition for its merchants on and off the platform, and that reconstructing the retail giant’s business models will lead to higher prices and slower and less reliable shipping speeds.
The FTC’s lawsuit is expected face many hurdles, but will be a warning sign for other online marketplaces that have launched in the U.S. on how to interact with customers and third-party sellers. Here is a list of the retailers who have launched online marketplaces since the FTC began investigating Amazon in 2019.
Company name Announcement date
Tik Tok Shop (US) September 12, 2023
Shein May 4, 2023
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Kohl’s March 29, 2023 **
Expanded pilot
Michaels February 27, 2023
Macy’s September 28, 2022
Temu September 13, 2022
Bed, Bath and Beyond (now November 21, 2021
Overstock.com)
Hudson’s Bay March 22, 2021
Kroger August 11, 2020
Target+ February 25, 2019
(Reporting by Arriana McLymore in New York City; Editing by David Gregorio)