If you sell on Amazon and are based in the UK, then congratulations because (unless you opt out) you are part of a £1 billion collective action bought by British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) on behalf of retailers at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London.
The £1 billion pound damages claim alleges that Amazon’s UK marketplace illegally misusing their data and manipulating the Amazon Buy Box to benefit its own commercial operation and its overall revenues and profit. It asserts that between October 2015 and the present date, Amazon used data belonging to UK retailers on the company’s marketplace – data that is non- public and belongs solely and specifically to the retailers – in combination with manipulating the Amazon Buy Box, to engage in a product entry strategy that resulted in sales revenue and profits being diverted from these retailers to Amazon.
BIRA say that by misusing retailers proprietary data to bring to market rival products that are sold cheaper, Amazon is effectively pushing many of the UK’s independent retailers out of the market. The consequences of Amazon’s abusive conduct, they say, has been to inflate its profits and harm the UK retail sector, especially the smaller independent retailers who are struggling at a time of difficult economic circumstances.
It is the largest collective claim to be filed under the Competition Act 1998 on behalf of UK retailers. The Act was amended in 2015 to enable a collective damages claim to be brought on behalf of a class of people who have suffered loss.
The British public has a strong relationship with its local, independent retailers and ensuring they are not put out of business by Amazon’s illegal actions is a key driving force behind this collective action. The filing of the claim today is the first step towards retailers obtaining compensation for what Amazon has done. I am confident that the CAT will authorise the claim to go forward, and I look forward to the opportunity to present the case on behalf of UK retailers. This is a watershed moment for UK retailers, but especially for small independent retailers in this country
– Andrew Goodacre, CEO, Bira
If you are not currently domiciled in the UK, but who sold on the UK marketplace, will have the opportunity to opt-in and get the benefits of the proposed collective action claim.
2 Responses
Are there any small UK owned brands left on Amazon ?
It started it phone cases and accessories and ended with the Chinese taking everything more or less.
BY small i mean turn over of at least 5-6K at least a month.
Not the Charity shop bin divers selling on eBay posting in the eBay forums like they run some massive enterprise.