Amazon.ca investigation update released amid Canadian Prime Days

Tech analyst Carmi Levy on why Amazon is extending Prime Day sales to four days and if trade tensions will impact prices.

The Competition Bureau has obtained a court order that advances its investigation into Amazon in Canada, it said in a statement on Tuesday, “to determine if the company is engaging in conduct that may be an abuse of dominance under the Competition Act.”

The investigation looks into Amazon’s Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy, which allows the e-commerce company to penalize sellers for setting a price for a product on Amazon.ca that is considerably higher than recent prices offered on Amazon or elsewhere, according to the bureau’s press release.

The probe seeks to determine whether Amazon’s policy prevents the entry or expansion of rivals “by preventing sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere than they do on Amazon.”

It is also seeking to establish whether the policy allows Amazon “to charge higher fees to sellers than it otherwise would, and whether this in turn causes sellers to charge higher retail prices to customers.”

The company replied to this claim saying its “tools are designed to enable customers to make informed purchase decisions and maintain their trust, while supporting the thousands of Canadian businesses that sell through our store,” an Amazon spokesperson told CTV News.

The Federal Court order requires the tech company to “produce records and information relevant to the investigation,” and Amazon has agreed to continue to collaborate with the bureau.

“There is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time,” the bureau’s statement reads.