The Fair Trade Commission has taken action by launching a probe into Amazon Japan, particularly concerned with the e-commerce giant's alleged misconduct related to its Marketplace platform activities in Tokyo. An integral part of this investigation revolves around the "buy box," a prioritized slot on product pages that has significant influence over customer purchasing decisions due to its visibility and ease of use.
Sources have revealed that Amazon Japan is suspected of imposing certain criteria on sellers to secure the buy box, including the mandate for competitive pricing vis-à-vis other e-commerce platforms and utilization of Amazon's bundled services like storage, shipping, delivery, and returns. This practice has raised concerns about the potential implications of such demands, with the FTC viewing the requirement for "competitive pricing" as a tactic that may lead to price reductions, which could adversely affect sellers in the marketplace. The Commission views these actions as an abuse of Amazon Japan's dominant bargaining power and a means of imposing restrictive trade conditions, contravening the Anti-Monopoly Law.
It is noteworthy that Amazon Japan currently holds a substantial market share in the e-commerce sector within Japan, standing at 28.2% as of fiscal 2021. Concerns have been raised that if sellers are coerced into complying with Amazon's demands to secure the buy box, it could hinder fair competition among e-commerce platforms and potentially result in sustained high product prices. Additionally, the FTC is not solely focusing its investigation on Amazon Japan but also plans to gather information from sellers to gain deeper insights into the situation, indicating a broader examination of potential antitrust violations in the e-commerce industry.