Independent UK retailers have launched the biggest ever retail class action with a £1bn claim for damages against Amazon, which they allege has been

Independent UK retailers claim £1bn damages against Amazon

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2024-06-07 16:30:02

Independent UK retailers have launched the biggest ever retail class action with a £1bn claim for damages against Amazon, which they allege has been pushing them out of its online marketplace.

The claim, brought by about 35,000 sellers and headed by the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira), asserts that between October 2015 and the present day, Amazon used non-public data belonging to the retailers to inform the launch of its own rival products.

It also alleges that Amazon manipulated access to its “buy box”, where most sales on the platform take place, to divert shoppers away from independent retailers to its own items.

Bira said Amazon was already charging its members a “non-negotiable 30% commission on every product sold on the site” and claims that, by “misusing their 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 have 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,” the trade body said.