EU hits Amazon with antitrust charges over merchants data

Online retail giant Amazon is set to face EU antitrust charges on Tuesday over its use of merchant data, as EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager takes aim at another American technology giant.

The European Commission has been investigating Amazon’s dual role – as a marketplace for merchants and also a rival seller – since July last year, triggered by complaints from traders about the company’s practices.

The investigation also focuses on how Amazon uses competitively sensitive merchant data to select winners for its “buy box”, which allows customers to add items from a specific retailer directly into their shopping carts.

The charges come as the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified Amazon’s role in the global economy, with online sales soaring.

Vestager has a reputation of being one of the world’s toughest antitrust regulators. Under her watch, the EU has imposed large fines on Alphabet’s Google and other companies.