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Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

propublica.org

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Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#41

Post by MChristopherson »

saltedonion wrote: post #13

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. Many retailers reserve some of their best shelves paces for their private label products, both as a form of differentiation and to extract higher margins. You could argue that Amazon is unique in that it is large and potentially has a monopoly over eCommerce, but it is hard to say that in the end, consumers are on the loosing end. Most amazon basic products are commodities, and pri…

"Many retailers reserve some of their best shelves paces for their private label products"

A key difference is that in those situations (a grocery store, for example), the marketplace owners have already purchased all the products on the shelves. It's the grocery store's decision to choose what and how the products that they have paid for are presented to customers.

This is not a hundred-percent comparison, of course, but it came to mind in the last number of weeks as this Amazon topic has come up.

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#42

Post by bingdig »

The main problem is that current antitrust law doesn't clearly prohibit anti-competitive behavior like this. Modern antitrust law has largely been created by judges (often without any economic training) interpreting early 20th century laws. This is a great summary of how regulations could be adapted to stop this sort of activity: https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/e.710.Khan.805_zuvfyyeh.p...

In short, competition needs to be increased (i.e. more platforms). For example, Amazon wouldn't be able to pull so many shenanigans if users could export all shopping data to jet.com and easily shop on multiple platforms.

The other solution is updated regulations that follow in the footsteps of historical frameworks of antitrust in industries like utilities where it's accepted that monopolies are efficient, but strict measures are put in place to limit abusing market power.

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#45

Post by miguelmota »

pinfisher wrote: post #32
miguelmota wrote: post #26

Is Amazon an open market? I can't buy Google Home products on Amazon so it appears that it's not an open market. If not an open market, then isn't it the same as a dealership promoting their own brand of cars first?

>" can't buy Google home products on Amazon" Yes you can https://www.amazon.com/s?k=google+home&rh=p_89%3AGoogle&dc&q...

I only see Google routers and cameras in that link. Can you provide a link to an actual Google Home or Google Nest Mini (Alexa competitor)?

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#46

Post by karaterobot »

Dahoon wrote: post #21
saltedonion wrote: post #13

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. Many retailers reserve some of their best shelves paces for their private label products, both as a form of differentiation and to extract higher margins. You could argue that Amazon is unique in that it is large and potentially has a monopoly over eCommerce, but it is hard to say that in the end, consumers are on the loosing end. Most amazon basic products are commodities, and pri…

> but it is hard to say that in the end, consumers are on the loosing end It's quite easy. Amazon is abusing its position to drive others out of business. They collect a lot of data and when someone finds a great selling product they move in and take over a big chunk of the market. That can and will hurt the customer. It should be illegal, as it actually is in some markets.

> Amazon is abusing its position to drive others out of business.

I don't think even the ProPublica article is accusing them of this.

What evidence is there that Amazon has purposefully driven sellers out of business, as opposed to just unfairly privileging its own brands? Why would they do this, when they created the marketplace and make a lot of money from it?

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#47

Post by kaibee »

MChristopherson wrote: post #41
saltedonion wrote: post #13

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. Many retailers reserve some of their best shelves paces for their private label products, both as a form of differentiation and to extract higher margins. You could argue that Amazon is unique in that it is large and potentially has a monopoly over eCommerce, but it is hard to say that in the end, consumers are on the loosing end. Most amazon basic products are commodities, and pri…

"Many retailers reserve some of their best shelves paces for their private label products" A key difference is that in those situations (a grocery store, for example), the marketplace owners have already purchased all the products on the shelves. It's the grocery store's decision to choose what and how the products that they have paid for are presented to customers. This is not a hundred-percent comparison, of course…

> A key difference is that in those situations (a grocery store, for example), the marketplace owners have already purchased all the products on the shelves. It's the grocery store's decision to choose what and how the products that they have paid for are presented to customers.

Is this actually true these days? I was under the impression that this varied by product.

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#48

Post by cameronbrown »

nullandvoid wrote: post #34
mikepurvis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found the "basics" products to be a little hit and miss, at least as far as electronics— USB cables, network hubs, and the like. However, one thing I really do like about them is the minimal packaging. So much other e-commerce stuff still arrives in retail-style blister packages, which is absurd.

My girlfriend had nail varnish delivered in ana Amazon box 30x30cm it was ridiculous! So I wouldn't be singing too many praises on their packaging stance

Recycleable cardboard boxes are fine, plastic is the big no no.

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#49

Post by ehh2heiddn »

nullandvoid wrote: post #34
mikepurvis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found the "basics" products to be a little hit and miss, at least as far as electronics— USB cables, network hubs, and the like. However, one thing I really do like about them is the minimal packaging. So much other e-commerce stuff still arrives in retail-style blister packages, which is absurd.

My girlfriend had nail varnish delivered in ana Amazon box 30x30cm it was ridiculous! So I wouldn't be singing too many praises on their packaging stance

Funny how people buy a single small item have it shipped to them then have the gall to complain about shipping waste.

Re: Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

#50

Post by mokanfar »

ABeeSea wrote: post #8

I just did the “ground coffee” and melatonin searches. Entire first row was an ad for bulletproof coffee and sugarbearhair vitamins. Second row had the amazon brand on the left with prominent amazon logos on the coffee bag and the pill bottle and a tag that says “featured from our brands” and the first word in he title for both items was Amazon. The next three items were sponsored ads. I don’t see amazon being decept…

Amazon is is doing with sponsored listings the same thing that Google did with its organic search results. "Oh your site is not the top 3 in search results for this keyword? You have a chance to stand out if you buy these ads." The shady difference here between the two is that Google did not try to show results from their own company, Amazon is.
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