SupplyChainBrain reports that federal regulators in Germany have warned Amazon that it may be violating the nation's competition laws through pricing controls that limit the visibility of certain sellers' products. In a preliminary assessment released on June 2 by Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO; Bundeskartellamt), the authority found that Amazon's algorithms deprioritize sellers in search results—and exclude them from advertising—when product prices are marked as either too high or "not competitive." The FCO argues that Amazon's pricing practices are fundamentally questionable from a competition perspective because the company competes directly with other marketplace retailers on its own platform. FCO President Andreas Mundt states: "Because Amazon competes directly with other marketplace retailers on its platform, influencing competitors' pricing—even in the form of a price cap—is fundamentally questionable from a competition perspective." In a statement to CNBC, an Amazon spokesperson strongly disagrees with the FCO's findings, saying that changing the retailer's pricing controls would be "bad for customers and selling partners."
From a supply chain perspective, Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office; FCO), based in Bonn, Germany, is Germany's independent competition authority—investigating monopolies and competition violations across all sectors, including Big Tech, retail, automotive, and financial services. Amazon, based in Seattle, WA, with CEO Andy Jassy, operates Amazon Marketplace with 9.7 million third-party sellers globally; third-party sellers account for 62% of marketplace sales—with approximately $638 billion in 2024 net revenue. The Amazon Buy Box algorithm is driven by competitive pricing, Prime eligibility, seller performance scores, and inventory status as key factors—82% of sales go to the Buy Box winning seller. Amazon Brand Registry, Amazon Vendor Central, and Amazon Seller Central are the primary seller interfaces. Amazon Advertising offers Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display as primary advertising products—with 2024 advertising revenue reaching $56 billion.
From a supply chain perspective, Amazon's pricing and data practices have been under regulatory scrutiny on both the EU and U.S. sides for years. In 2022, the company reached a settlement with the EU to address allegations that Amazon gave preferential treatment to its own retail business over independent sellers. A year later, 17 states, together with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC; former Chair Lina Khan; currently Andrew Ferguson), filed suit accusing Amazon of unlawfully inflating prices and blocking sellers from offering lower prices than the company's own internal retail brands. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect in 2024—designating Amazon as a gatekeeper alongside Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, ByteDance (TikTok), and Booking.com—with aggressive self-preferencing, data portability, third-party access, and app store rules as key obligations. Governments worldwide are responding to power-balance issues with marketplaces and large platforms—with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), French Autorité de la concurrence, and Italian Autorità Garante della Concorrenza (AGCM) as primary parallel regulators.
From a supply chain perspective, Amazon's key regulatory proceedings include: (1) 2022 EU Commission Buy Box settlement; (2) 2023 FTC v. Amazon antitrust lawsuit (ongoing); (3) 2024 Italian Competition Authority €1.13 billion fine; (4) 2024 UK CMA Marketplace investigation; (5) 2025 EU DMA compliance monitoring; (6) 2025 India CCI Flipkart-Amazon joint investigation; (7) 2024 Mexico COFECE digital marketplace study; (8) 2024 Japan JFTC supplier contract review; (9) 2024 South Korea KFTC compliance work; (10) 2024 Brazil CADE e-commerce assessment as key parallel cases. Other significant marketplace competition cases include Apple App Store (EU DMA; Epic Games v. Apple), Google Play (Epic Games v. Google; U.S. DOJ v. Google), Meta Marketplace (EU Commission), and Booking.com and Expedia (parity clauses) as major sector players. In conclusion, Bundeskartellamt's Amazon pricing cap investigation suggests that Big Tech marketplace control and seller ecosystem governance are being fundamentally reassessed globally—multi-channel marketplace strategy appears to be a key strategic priority for supply chain managers.
Key Notes:
1. Bundeskartellamt (Andreas Mundt) evaluates Amazon price cap algorithm as a violation.
2. Amazon algorithms deprioritize products marked as "too high" or "not competitive" from search and advertising.
3. Amazon strongly disputes the findings—saying changes would harm customers and partners.
4. 2022 EU settlement and 2023 FTC lawsuit are historical regulatory precedents.
5. EU DMA designates Amazon as a gatekeeper.
