Amazon’s Plight in Europe: Regulators’ Views vís-a-vís its ‘Dual Role’
If you’ve recently browsed Amazon for electronics, chances are you’ve stumbled across a brand called Amazon Basics. Amazon Basics is an Amazon house label which specialises in electronics and household goods. This includes items such as cables, ink cartridges, portable speakers, batteries, air conditioners, paper shredders, toasters, blenders, kettles, etc.
Amazon also has other house labels, albeit most with names that bear a less obvious connection to it e.g. Lark & Co, North Eleven and Society New York, to name just a few.
The products sold under these brand names are often priced incredibly low. As with most private labels, Amazon can undercut competitors by forgoing advertising and expensive packaging. Sweetening the deal even further, Amazon offers prime members additional incentives such as free shipping and a generous multiple on their cashback points. These can be considered legitimate synergies which Amazon exploits to gain a competitive advantage.
However, there are indications that Amazon may also use data to gain a competitive advantage in developing and selling these product lines — namely, the data it gets from Amazon Marketplace. Marketplace is the platform where third-party vendors can sell their goods on Amazon’s website. Amazon can (in theory at least)…
