Amazon.com asked a federal court to dismiss a US Government antitrust lawsuit which accuses the company of using illegal strategies to boost profits at its online retail empire, including an algorithm that allegedly pushed up prices by more than US $ 1 billion.
Amazon claimed in its move for dismissal that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission mistook “common retail practices” for anticompetitive behaviour in a complaint it launched in September and neglected to mention any harm to consumers.
“Amazon promptly matches rivals’ discounts, features competitively priced deals rather than overpriced ones, and ensures best-in class delivery for its Prime subscribers,” the business stated in requesting that the lawsuit is “dismissed in its entirety.”
The Trump and Biden administrations have brought four lawsuits against the internet giants since 2020, including this one from the Federal Trade Commission. The Biden team’s main focus has been on common consumer goods including food, housing, and airline tickets.
Amazon, an online superstore with one billion items, is accused in the FTC case of developing a “secret algorithm” called Project Nessie to determine which things it may raise prices on without alienating customers. According to the FTC, Amazon defrauded Americans of more than US $ 1 billion through Project Nessie.
According to Amazon’s filing, Nessie was discontinued in 2019 and the business honours lower pricing offered by other vendors.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also took issue with Amazon’s Prime feature, which forces vendors to utilise the company’s delivery and logistics services even though many would have liked to use a less expensive option or one that would also serve customers on other platforms.
Using Amazon’s fulfilment services is entirely optional, according to Amazon.com, including for goods sold as part of its Prime service. According to the FTC, Amazon’s average fees for merchants utilising its fulfilment services went from 27 per cent in 2014 to 39.5 per cent in 2018.
Amazon further contended that it faced competition from a number of specialised retailers like Best Buy, Home Depot, Kroger, Costco, Staples, Walgreens, Nike, and Apple, as well as other internet giants like Walmart and Target.
