Why Retailers Are Calling For An Antitrust Investigation Into Amazon And Google?

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to move forward with an investigation against companies such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google to determine if they are allegedly “impeding free market competition or deliberately deceiving consumers.”

The RILA represents more than 200 retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. In its comments submitted to the FTC, the association argues that “the digital revolution in retail requires new thinking and approaches to antitrust enforcement and consumer protection.”

The association said it is calling for action by the FTC as well as additional investigations by U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, the Federal Communications Commission, and Congress. The RILA has also aligned itself with 43 state attorney generals that are recommending that “consideration of non-price effects should be given greater priority in technology market mergers.”

“Leading retailers believe the FTC has a responsibility to protect consumers by ensuring that competition exists throughout the retail ecosystem,” Nicholas Ahrens, RILA vice president of innovation said. “RILA does not file this comment to complain about competition from Facebook, Google, Amazon, Visa, or any other technology or payments platform.

“Indeed, retail leaders comment to ask for more competition, not less. New approaches are necessary to ensure that access to information empowers, rather than manipulates, consumers as they navigate an economy dominated by a handful of giant tech platforms.”

The RILA has joined a number of companies that include Oracle, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and News Corp., that are also raising concerns about competition in the technology industry, Bloomberg reported. The association contends that these tech companies reduce the competitive nature of other brands that are selling on their platform by favoring their own technology products, which could lead to more counterfeit goods being produced, the news outlet said.

“Modern antitrust investigation and enforcement needs to be driven by a greater recognition that control over information can drive anti-competitive effects just as much as market power and price control,” said Ahrens.

“The Commission should consider rules or enforcement actions requiring such bottleneck technology platforms to convey information to consumers in ways that are transparent and do not mislead consumers about where products come from, whether they are new or used, whether their sale by a given retailer is authorized, and how the total price from one seller compares to the prices charged by others.”

The FTC oversees Facebook and Amazon while the DOJ keeps tabs on Google and Apple.