An antitrust case against Amazon initiated in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission has now reached a stage where the prosecution has to identify competitors of the e-commerce platform.

The FTC has held that Amazon has monopolized the online market services, but to make its case it also needs to state which are the rivals that most closely compete with Amazon.

Ahead of a trial set for October 2026, FTC lawyer Kenneth Merber said the market for “online superstores” may be limited to Amazon, or could also include Walmart and eBay, reported Bloomberg. “We don’t have a definitive answer but we are working on it.”

John Schmidtlein, Amazon’s attorney, said, “There will be lots of evidence of who Amazon views its competitors are. It’s lots of other people besides eBay, Target and Walmart.”

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has an 82% market share of the value of goods sold online among Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Target, citing data from EMarketer.

The rapid growth of platforms such as Temu and Shein means that these platforms could potentially be listed as Amazon’s competitors too.

The FTC also alleges that Amazon’s dominant market position gives it monopoly power over merchants using its marketplace.

The agency is also questioning Amazon’s policy of not allowing sellers to offer lower prices on other sites, forcing these sellers to raise prices on competing platforms.

 

While the case will go to trial in the US next year, Amazon’s Australian revenue reached a record-high of $7.7 billion last year. Revenues from its e-commerce business rose 23% to $3.8 billion in the 12 months to December 31.

The company plans to open a new large warehouse in Sydney in 2026 which will allow it to expand into “big box retail” offering consumers furniture and large electrical items, competing more directly with consumer electronic retailers in the country.

Its online store accounted for the majority of the group’s revenues as sales rose 19% to $1.9 billion. Revenue from third-party marketplace sellers increased by 48% to $839.5 million.