UK retailers have launched a class action for £1bn damages against Amazon at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
The claim is being brought by the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) on an opt-out basis, under which all UK retailers who have lost out are automatically included in the claim unless they explicitly opt out.
The retailers allege that, since October 2015, Amazon has misused non-public data belonging to the retailers to boost its own sales and price-setting of rival products.
Boris Bronfentrinker of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, acting for BIRA, said: ‘This is precisely the sort of claim that the new collective action regime was brought in for, to enable small and medium-sized businesses to be able to recover damages caused to them by a huge multinational.’
Amazon has consistently denied the allegations.
