According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Amazon initiated a secret project named "Project Curiosity" in 2015, aiming to compare the experiences of third-party sellers on its platform with those on rival e-commerce sites such as Walmart, eBay, and Fedex. However, this project quickly transformed into a covert operation to spy on competitors by setting up a fake online business called Big River.
The alleged strategies employed by Big River included selling various items like t-shirts, shoes, and beach chairs on the platforms of rival companies to gather information that Amazon could use for its own business decisions. To avoid detection, Big River employees reportedly minimized electronic records of their work and used non-Amazon email addresses when communicating with other companies. They even received instructions on how to handle suspicions if their true affiliation with Amazon was discovered.
An Amazon spokesperson defended the actions as mere "benchmarking," a legal practice of comparing products with competitors. Big River Services International, a partner in this scheme, instructed its members to capture screenshots of competitors' pricing and advertising systems while accessing their sales platforms, and was prohibited from sharing these screenshots via email. The information obtained through these means reportedly led Amazon to make improvements to enhance the seller experience on its platform.
Apart from infiltrating competitors' platforms, Big River also ventured into developing its own brands to sell products on rival marketplace websites. This included launching an India-based brand named Crimson Knot selling photo frames on Flipkart, as well as introducing a streetwear brand called Not So Ape that utilized a Shopify-hosted website to sell products in the US.