Italy fines Amazon €10 million for alleged unfair trade practices
Italy's antitrust authority has fined two Amazon subsidiaries a total of 10 million euros for alleged unfair commercial practices, the regulatory agency said on Wednesday, a decision which the US e-commerce giant said it would appeal.
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Amazon “significantly restricted consumers’ freedom of choice” by automatically defaulting to the ‘Subscribe and Save’ option on its website for a wide range of products, the watchdog said.
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This way, consumers were more likely to choose regular scheduled deliveries instead of individual purchases.
"The repeat purchase preference motivates someone to periodically purchase a product – even without a real need – thereby limiting their freedom of choice," the authority said in a statement.
Amazon disputed the decision and said it would appeal.
"Every day, customers benefit from the Subscribe and Save program by saving money and time on regular deliveries of items they use regularly," it said in an emailed statement.
The 'Subscribe and Save' option, which allows customers to schedule periodic deliveries of everyday necessities at an additional discount compared to the price of a single purchase, has enabled savings of more than 40 million euros since its launch in Italy, the company added.
Information source: yahoo.com
