Amazon investigated over concerns its shopping service gives consumers bad deal

Watchdog to look into claims online retail giant gives unfair advantage to its own business over others that use its platform

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Amazon is being investigated by the UK's competition watchdog over concerns that its marketplace favours its own products, giving consumers a worse deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will look into whether Amazon is using its dominant position in online retail to give an unfair advantage to its own retail business or sellers that use its services.

The probe will assess how the tech giant uses third-party seller data and how it decides which products are sold under the Prime label for faster shipping.

The CMA will also scrutinise how Amazon selects the preferred choice in the “Buy Box”, which is displayed prominently on Amazon’s product pages. The box gives customers options to “Buy Now” with one click or “Add to Basket” from a specific seller.

It comes after the European Commission opened its own investigations into similar claims made about Amazon’s business practices.

Amazon makes billions of dollars in revenue by providing services to other merchants that sell on its websites and use its fulfilment services. Critics argue that this gives the company a position that stifles competition in online retailing.

The CMA is seeking to establish whether this results in consumers paying more for products, being offered lower-quality items or having less choice than they would in a more competitive market.

Amazon has been contacted for comment.

Sarah Cardell, general counsel at the CMA, said: “Millions of people across the UK rely on Amazon’s services for fast delivery of all types of products at the click of a button.

“This is an important area so it’s right that we carefully investigate whether Amazon is using third-party data to give an unfair boost to its own retail business and whether it favours sellers who use its logistics and delivery services – both of which could weaken competition.

“Thousands of UK businesses use Amazon to sell their products and it is important they are able to operate in a competitive market. Any loss of competition is a loss to consumers and could lead to them paying more for products, being offered lower-quality items or having less choice.”