Re:Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Produ...
by adventured on Monday June 08, 2020 @05:21PM
(#23460947)
> Why don't grocery stores get in trouble then?
It would be argued that Amazon's specific point of abuse and power is related to its ecommerce market share. If a monopoly argument is going to be made against Amazon in retail, it will be about their online store (as opposed to eg in-store Wholefoods).
I think it's a fair point of separation. Amazon can simultaneously have an abusive monopoly online and a weak position in physical stores. Walmart could cultivate a monopoly in physical store retailing (hypothetically), and have a weak position online.
Other grocery stores don't attract anti-trust attention, typically, because they have no overwhelmingly dominant position.
If Kroger had 40% or 60% of the US grocery store business, they'd be a target of anti-trust focus persistently (as it is, Kroger is the #2 grocer and only has 10% of the grocery business; it's a very fragmented market, Costco is #3 with a mere 5% share). If Amazon.com only had 10% of the US online retail business, there wouldn't be so much concern about their potential monopoly positioning.
It would be argued that Amazon's specific point of abuse and power is related to its ecommerce market share. If a monopoly argument is going to be made against Amazon in retail, it will be about their online store (as opposed to eg in-store Wholefoods).
I think it's a fair point of separation. Amazon can simultaneously have an abusive monopoly online and a weak position in physical stores. Walmart could cultivate a monopoly in physical store retailing (hypothetically), and have a weak position online.
Other grocery stores don't attract anti-trust attention, typically, because they have no overwhelmingly dominant position.
If Kroger had 40% or 60% of the US grocery store business, they'd be a target of anti-trust focus persistently (as it is, Kroger is the #2 grocer and only has 10% of the grocery business; it's a very fragmented market, Costco is #3 with a mere 5% share). If Amazon.com only had 10% of the US online retail business, there wouldn't be so much concern about their potential monopoly positioning.