Amazon.com was sued in a proposed class action in the United States, claiming the online retailer of breaking a consumer protection statute by guiding hundreds of millions of customers to higher-priced products to collect additional fees.
According to a complaint filed on Thursday in federal court in Seattle, Amazon’s algorithm for determining what to display in its “Buy Box” when customers search for items frequently overshadows lower-cost choices with faster delivery timeframes.
Citing the previous antitrust litigation against Amazon by the United States Federal Trade Commission and 17 states, the complaint stated that customers choose Amazon’s options about 98 per cent of the time by clicking its “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons, frequently mistakenly assuming Amazon had found the cheapest rates.
According to the complaint, Amazon designed the algorithm to benefit third-party sellers that use its Fulfilment By Amazon programme and pay “hefty fees” for inventory storage, packaging and shipping, returns, and other services.
“While ostensibly identifying the selection that consumers would make if they considered all the available offers, Amazon’s Buy Box algorithm deceptively favours Amazon’s profits over consumer well-being,” according to the lawsuit.
Amazon declined to respond. Jeffrey Taylor and Robert Selway, citizens of California, filed the case.
It demands damages for Amazon’s claimed violations of a Washington state statute against deceptive trade practices since 2016, which resulted in a “great burden placed upon its customers,” according to plaintiffs’ lawyer Steve Berman.
The lawsuit varies from prior private action over the “Buy Box” in that it focuses on customer harm caused by misleading tactics rather than antitrust breaches or injury to vendors who do not participate in Amazon’s fulfilment programme.
The case is Taylor et al v Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 24-00169.
