Amazon Looks To End EC Probe With Data Sharing, Rival Boosting

Amazon will share marketplace data with its sellers and boost rivals’ product visibility on its platform if the European Commission will close its 2020 investigation with no fine levied against the world’s largest retailer by the end of this year, people familiar with the situation told Reuters Monday (June 13). 

The company is proposing to allow sellers access to some marketplace data, adding its commercial arm will not be able to use seller data collected by its retail unit. Amazon will also create a second buy box for rival products if an Amazon product appears in the first buy box, the report said. 

Amazon’s process for choosing which retailer appears in the site’s buy box and which generates the bulk of its sales have also been scrutinized.

The company is proposing to allow sellers access to some marketplace data, adding its commercial arm will not be able to use seller data collected by its retail unit. Amazon will also create a second buy box for rival products if an Amazon product appears in the first buy box, the report said.

The commission will likely get feedback from rivals and users in the next several weeks, then possibly tweak its proposal before making a final decision by the end of this year.

Last week, the UK Treasury released a policy paper proposing a new regulatory framework that would provide the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority with new powers to oversee tech firms that provide critical services to the financial industry.

The government is concerned about the growing dependence of banks on cloud computing, as these services are mostly provided by a handful of players. As of 2020, over 65% of U.K. firms used the same four cloud providers for cloud infrastructure services, according to the Treasury statement.

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