Amazon is facing a £1 billion damages claim on behalf of retailers selling on its UK marketplace; this is the biggest collective action launched by UK retailers.
The claim is being filed by Bira (the British Independent Retailers Association) on behalf of the retailers; it alleges that the online retail giant illegally misused retailers’ data and manipulated the “Amazon Buy Box” to its benefit.
Bira CEO, Andrew Goodacre, said: “The British public has a strong relationship with its local, independent retailers and ensuring they are not put out of business by Amazon’s illegal actions is a key driving force behind this collective action.
“The filing of the claim today is the first step towards retailers obtaining compensation for what Amazon has done.”
Bira also said that Amazon used data that belonged to UK retailers on its marketplace which was non-public and belonged solely and specifically to the retailers between October 2015 and present.
It alleges that it may have helped it determine whether to enter a new product segment based on its sales potential and earnings, which elements of the item to copy, how to price a product, and which shoppers to target.
Bira claimed the retailers were unaware that Amazon was illegally using their data for its own benefit.
