Competition Law Aspects of Amazon’s Business Model

Abstract

Digitisation is changing not only our society but also markets, strategies and business models, which has increased competition in many markets. At the same time, large companies with a digital business model, such as Amazon, in particular, are experiencing a rapid rise, which has triggered a debate about fair competitive conditions. However, it is not only the company’s significant market power that is a cause for concern. The increasing vertical integration of platform operators such as Amazon, which makes them direct competitors of their own platform users, also raises competition law issues. Against this backdrop, it is the aim of this article to analyse Amazon’s business model in more detail from a competition law perspective. The analysis aims to identify which parts of the company’s business model and the resulting strategies may be seen as problematic under competition law.