A £1 billion pound damages claim will be filed today against Amazon on behalf of retailers selling on Amazon’s UK marketplace for illegally misusing their data and manipulating the Amazon Buy Box to benefit its own commercial operation and its overall revenues and profit.
The claim, the biggest collective action ever launched by UK retailers, is being brought by the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) on behalf of retailers at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London. It asserts that between October 2015 and the present date, Amazon used data belonging to UK retailers on the company’s marketplace – data that is non-public and belongs solely and specifically to the retailers – in combination with manipulating the Amazon Buy Box, to engage in a product entry strategy that resulted in sales revenue and profits being diverted from these retailers to Amazon.
Such commercially valuable and confidential information helps Amazon decide whether to enter a new product segment based on its earnings and sales potential, which elements of the product to copy, how to price an item, and which consumers to target. That information in combination with the Buy Box, meant Amazon knew it could successfully enter and take away profits from UK retailers.
The retailers, many of whom are small independent UK businesses, were unaware that Amazon was illegally using their data to benefit its own retail operation. Amazon was already charging them a non-negotiable 30 per cent commission on every product sold on the site. By misusing their proprietary data to bring to market rival products that are sold cheaper, Amazon is effectively pushing many of the UK’s independent retailers out of the market. The consequences of Amazon’s abusive conduct has been to inflate its profits and harm the UK retail sector, especially the smaller independent retailers who are struggling at a time of difficult economic circumstances.
It is the largest collective claim to be filed under the Competition Act 1998 on behalf of UK retailers. The Act was amended in 2015 to enable a collective damages claim to be brought on behalf of a class of people who have suffered loss.
Amazon has long challenged the suggestion that when it makes and sells its own products, it misuses the information it collects from the marketplace’s third-party retailers. It has similarly challenged that it uses the Buy Box to preference its own retail operations.
However, in 2022 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened a probe into Amazon alleging it was abusing its dominant market position by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business and retailers that use its services over other third-party retailers on its marketplace. The UK is Amazon’s biggest European market. The CMA raised concerns that Amazon’s access to ‘commercially sensitive data’ relating to third-party retailers could give it an advantage in deciding which products to sell and how to set prices.
The competition watchdog also alleged that products sold by third-party retailers were less likely to appear in the "Buy Box" than Amazon’s own products, reinforcing the anticompetitive effect of Amazon’s decisions to take sales away from third-party retailers. Amazon set itself up through these unlawful practices to maximise the profit it would make and, in doing so, it must have known about the damage it would cause to third-party retailers.
In order to avoid a full investigation and detailed decision from the CMA about its conduct, Amazon offered a number of commitments to halt these practices. It also agreed to appoint an independent trustee, approved by the CMA, to monitor the company’s compliance with its commitments going forward. There has been a similar investigation by the European Commission which yielded similar concessions from Amazon.
Amazon’s annual gross profit for 2023 was $270.046bn [£211.46bn], a 19.94 per cent increase from 2022.
Today’s filing of a collective action against Amazon will allow UK retailers to access justice as a group and receive compensation for the losses they have incurred as a result of Amazon’s unlawful conduct.
Based on expert analysis of the evidence, the total damage caused to UK retailers is estimated to be in the region of £1.1bn including interest.
The claim is being brought by the BIRA, as the proposed representative of the class of retailers selling on the UK marketplace that have suffered loss. BIRA is 'the voice of independent retailers' and their leading trade association in the UK. BIRA also chairs the Independent Retailer Confederation (IRC), an informal group of approximately 20 other small retail associations.
BIRA’s Chief Executive Andrew Goodacre has worked hard for several years to strengthen Britain’s independent retailers and the communities they support.
BIRA will today file over 1,150 pages of documents with the CAT that set out the claim against Amazon. This includes a statement from Mr Goodacre explaining why BIRA is bringing the action and how it will manage the claim on behalf of the proposed class of retailers. There is also a report from a leading independent economic expert that supports the claim and a detailed plan for managing the claim, including how the proposed class of approximately 35,000 UK retailers will be communicated with through a claim website, newspapers, magazines and social media.
Andrew Goodacre said, “One might ask why would an independent retailer use Amazon if it is so damaging to their business? In reality, we have seen a significant shift in consumer buying behaviour and, if small business want to sell online, Amazon is the dominant marketplace in the UK. As a result, for small retailers with limited resources, Amazon is the marketplace to start online trading. Whilst the retailers knew about the large commissions charged by Amazon, they did not know about the added risk of their trading data being used by Amazon to take sales away from them.”
Goodacre added, “The British public has a strong relationship with its local, independent retailers and ensuring they are not put out of business by Amazon’s illegal actions is a key driving force behind this collective action. The filing of the claim today is the first step towards retailers obtaining compensation for what Amazon has done. I am confident that the CAT will authorise the claim to go forward, and I look forward to the opportunity to present the case on behalf of UK retailers. This is a watershed moment for UK retailers, but especially for small independent retailers in this country.”
BIRA has instructed leading international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP on this landmark case. Their team is being led by partners Boris Bronfentrinker, Elaine Whiteford and Michelle Clark. Leading competition barristers Sarah Ford KC at Brick Court Chambers and Jason Pobjoy from Blackstone Chambers have also been instructed, whilst BIRA’s independent economic expert is Dr Rainer Nitsche from E.CA Economics.
Boris Bronfentrinker said, “This is precisely the sort of claim that the new collective action regime was brought in for, to enable small and medium size businesses to be able to recover damages caused to them by a huge multinational, where they would not otherwise have such access to justice. The power of Amazon is unrivalled when it comes to the very important online world to which so much commerce has migrated. Making itself a must use for retailers, Amazon has then proceeded to cause damage and financial loss to retailers by misusing their confidential data that Amazon was entrusted to keep safe and by preferencing its own retail operations.
"No individual retailer, no matter how large, is willing to get into the lion’s den and take the fight to Amazon, but fortunately BIRA has shown that it will stand up and fight for UK retailers, backed with the financial muscle of one of the world’s largest litigation funders, and with a first-class team of advisors. Retailers in the UK were entitled to be treated better and fairly by Amazon. They were not, and this claim will deliver back to them the more than a billion pounds in damages that has been caused to them. We are honoured that BIRA has entrusted us to bring such an important claim on behalf of retailers in the UK.”
Under the rules laid down in the Competition Act 1998, all UK retailers who have lost out and are now domiciled in the UK will automatically become part of the claimant class unless they explicitly opt-out. This means that, once the claim is filed, no action will be required by individual retailers as they will automatically be eligible to receive compensation at the conclusion of the claim. Those not currently domiciled in the UK, but who sold on the UK marketplace, will have the opportunity to opt-in and get the benefits of the proposed claim.
Litigation Capital Management (LCM), one of the world’s largest litigation funders, will fund the claim, partnering with Goodacre and Willkie to see this action through to the end. Everything is in place to get the best possible result for UK retailers and ensure that Amazon is made to pay for its unlawful and harmful conduct.
East of England Co-op said it has improved labour productivity whilst improving customer service delivery in-store with an Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) solution from Pricer, the leading in-store automation and communication solutions provider.
Established in 1861, East of England Co-op is now the largest independent retailer operating in the East of England. In addition to the 120 food stores it operates in the region, the regional cooperative also offers customers specialist services, such as funerals, security, travel agents and petrol filling stations across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
Having announced the roll-out of Pricer’s ESLs to its entire store estate in March, East of England Co-op now uses Pricer’s solution, powered by its cloud-based Plaza platform, to centrally manage and control pricing, product information and promotions across all its ESLs.
Eliminating the need for manual updates, the ESLs deliver real-time price and promotions updates, reducing the risk of pricing errors and ensuring accuracy and efficiency in shelf-edge operations.
The solution also drives overall store efficiency by enabling store colleagues to focus their efforts on customer-focused and value-adding tasks that deliver store performance.
With the new ESL solution now deployed in around 40 per cent of its retail estate, East of England Co-op has already seen significant boosts to labour productivity, drastically reducing the manual effort of store colleagues in maintaining shelf-edge processes, including printing and tearing label strips as well as replacing paper labels.
Before it was spending tens of thousands of labour hours each year completing manual shelf-edge processes, now it estimates labour time that would have been spent on maintaining traditional paper labels has been reduced by 70 per cent.
This also allows store associates to focus time on customer-facing, service-oriented tasks to improved customer experience in-store. Additionally, the move to ESLs has also helped East of England Co-op reduced store printing costs by 50 per cent as well as saving paper use and waste from traditional physical labels.
“The standout aspect of our ESLs Programme is the collaborative spirit Pricer has fostered within the delivery team,” Stephen Lamb, head of program delivery, East of England Co-op, commented.
“This partnership has navigated the challenges of an intensive change programme, demonstrating resilience and adaptability while exceeding the original scope of price and promotion for tangible benefits. Built on a foundation of trust, the feedback from our Co-op technical teams, business units, store colleagues and Pricer highlights how we’ve worked together to seize opportunities.”
Peter Ward, UK country manager at Pricer, said: “We know driving labour productivity in-store is a key focus for retailers, who want to be able to leverage one of their most important and valuable assets – their store staff – to those tasks that drive the most value to customers. Through ESLs, East of England Co-op has freed store associates to serve, deliver efficiency gains and customer experience enhancement, whilst still achieving all the automated operational requirements to effectively merchandise and maintain the shelf-edge.”
PayPoint Plc has on Thursday has announced a robust financial performance for the half year ending 30 September, making continued progress towards achieving an underlying EBITDA of £100 million by the end of FY26.
The company’s UK retail network increased to 30,151 sites during the period, from 29,149 at the end of the previous fiscal year. 70 per cent of these are independent retailers, and the rest in multiple retail groups.
The group reported a 20.6 per cent year-on-year increase in underlying EBITDA, reaching £37.5m, and a 23.4 per cent rise in underlying profit before tax to £26.9m.
“This has been a strong half year for PayPoint where we have delivered a positive financial performance,” Nick Wiles, chief executive, said.
“The resilience of our businesses combined with the growing opportunities to deliver value-add solutions to our clients, continue to underline our confidence in building further momentum in our key growth building blocks.”
Wiles said consumer behaviour has improved from a slow start in April although remains subdued, with broader economic indicators demonstrating the continuing challenging environment for UK consumers.
“We are now putting greater focus on harnessing our enhanced platform through better connecting our increased capabilities and achieving greater collaboration across the business as a whole, opening up more revenue opportunities to the benefit of our clients and customers,” he added.
Total revenue rose by 6.7 per cent to £135m, with net revenue increasing by 6.0 per cent to £84.6m. PayPoint's Shopping division, a cornerstone of the business, saw net revenue grow by 2.5 per cent to £32.9m, supported by a 10.3 per cent increase in service fees. Card payment revenue also grew marginally by 1.2 per cent to £16.6m, despite a 2.8 per cent dip in total card processed values to £3.6 billion.
The UK retail network increased to 30,151 sites (31 March 2024: 29,149), with 70.0 per cent in independent retailer partners and 30.0 per cent in multiple retail groups
The E-commerce division reported the most substantial growth, with net revenue surging 56.9 per cent to £8.0 million. Parcel transactions soared by 47 per cent to 61.9 million, buoyed by the expanded Collect+ network, which now spans over 13,400 sites, with further expansion planned to support volume growth and the rollout of Royal Mail partnership.
The Love2shop segment saw net revenue climbing 7.4 per cent to £18.m. The division processed £67 million in billings during the period, reflecting the success of corporate API integrations and a restructured new business team.
The Payments and Banking division experienced a slight decline, with net revenue dipping by 0.8 per cent to £24.9m, attributed to the phasing out of legacy energy bill payments and reduced cash transactions.
The group has also introduced a new strategic focus, described as the “seventh building block,” which aims to connect PayPoint’s diverse capabilities across payments, rewards, gifting, and loyalty solutions to drive growth.
Despite the challenges posed by a subdued consumer environment in the UK, Wiles said the business remains confident in its growth trajectory.
“Our core characteristics of strong earnings growth, cash flow generation, and capital discipline, along with the continued growth across the group, give the board confidence in delivering further progress in the year and meeting expectations,” he said.
UK claimants announced Wednesday legal action against US pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant Johnson & Johnson, alleging that women diagnosed with cancers were exposed to asbestos in the company's talcum powder.
J&J risks UK court action for the first time over the allegations, having faced a series of similar lawsuits in North America.
KP Law, the firm representing about 2,000 claimants, said "women who have been diagnosed with life-changing and life-limiting cancers were exposed to asbestos contained within the company’s talcum powder".
In response Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, said "Johnson & Johnson takes the issue of talc safety incredibly seriously and always has".
Haas added that J&J's own analysis found an absence of asbestos contamination in its products and said "independent science makes clear that talc is not associated with the risk of ovarian cancer nor mesothelioma".
J&J has until the end of the year to respond to a letter sent on behalf of KP Law's clients, following which documents will be filed in the High Court.
The law firm is representing predominantly women regarding the case, and says it has been contacted by thousands more, adding that some have died of their cancers.
Lawyers claim that the US-based corporation knew "as early as the 1970s that asbestos in its talc products was dangerous but failed to warn consumers and carried on producing and selling the products in the UK until as recently as 2022".
J&J said that Kenvue, its former consumer-health division that it separated out in 2023, is responsible for "any alleged talc liability that arises outside the US or Canada".
"Decades of testing by experts... demonstrates that the product is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer,” Kenvue said in a statement.
However, in September, J&J increased its offer to settle talc claims relating to ovarian cancer in the US to around $8 billion (£6.32bn) to be paid over 25 years.
Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay $700 million to settle allegations it misled customers about the safety of its talcum-based powder products in North America.
The company did not admit wrongdoing in its settlement but withdrew the product from the North American market in 2020.
The World Health Organisation's cancer agency in July classified talc as "probably carcinogenic" for humans.
A summary of studies published in 2020 covering 250,000 women in the US did not find a statistical link between the use of talc on the genitals and the risk of ovarian cancer.
Glebe Farm Foods has announced that its site has been awarded AA+ grade following the recent unannounced audit against the BRCGS V9 standard.
The BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard is a globally recognised certification program designed to ensure the safety, quality, legality and authenticity of food products. This was the first unannounced audit for the site and included all the production facilities; de-hulling, flaking and flour, oat drink manufacturing and Tetrapak filling, and new to the scope was the manufacturing and packing of Granola.
The audit covered not only the Global Food Safety Standard but also the BRCGS Gluten Free Programme. The recognition comes following a consistent dedication to excellence and the meticulous efforts of Glebe's technical team and supportive operatives, led by Glebe’s Head of Technical, Serena Woolland, who joined the manufacturer in November 2023, bringing with her a wealth of expertise.
As well as awarding Glebe Farm Foods Grade AA+, it also commended the company for its progress, British farming, investments and innovation, and the unwavering commitment demonstrated by its staff.
"The result is a testament to the hard work of our exceptional production staff and the technical team, keeping both site and systems in impeccable order," said Philip Rayner, Founder and Managing Director of Glebe Farm Foods. " At Glebe Farm Foods, we strive to deliver nothing but the highest standard – whether that’s in taste or product experience, sustainable practices, or food safety. We’re delighted with this status – but we were always confident we’d achieve it!”
InPost, the leading provider of parcel locker solutions, has announced the next phase in its rapid expansion with the opening of new Locker Shops in key urban areas. Following the success of its first Locker Shop in Camden, InPost is accelerating its Locker Shop opening programme and targeting hyper urban areas where there is huge demand for its lockers to provide greater access to its parcel locker network.
Kicking off with new locations in London, including Liverpool Street and London Bridge in 2024, as well as Manchester and further London locations from 2025 as part of a strategic rollout.
InPost is leading the locker revolution as more and more people choose out-of-home delivery options. With over 8,400 locker locations across the country and demand continuing to grow the InPost Locker Shops offer a quick, easy and convenient delivery solution for consumers in busy urban areas.
InPost’s Camden Locker Shop pilot, which launched in April 2024, was a hit with London locals and proved the value of dedicated stores with a large number of locker compartments. Based on this encouraging response, InPost is now bringing the concept to even more areas. The new shops will feature InPost’s eye-catching branding with localised design elements to further engage with local consumers.
“The results of our Camden trial showed us that consumers love our InPost Locker Shops," said Neil Kuschel, CEO, InPost UK. "We know that locker lovers are seeking convenience - that’s the number one reason they’re choosing out-of-home delivery[ii] - and what’s more convenient than having a store in your neighbourhood? We are committed to making parcel collection and returns as simple as possible for our customers. By expanding our network of Locker Shop locations to more urban areas, even more consumers will now be able to pop in and pick up or drop off their parcels with ease, taking us one step closer to our goal of ensuring every consumer has access to an InPost Locker.”
Current locations:
5 Pratt St., London NW1 0AE
11 Wentworth Street, London, E1 7TB
Unit 4, Larch Court, Glass Boutique, Bermondsey Street, SE1 3GB
Full details of further InPost Locker Shop locations will soon be announced.