Amazon’s retail chief, Jeff Wilke, claims the e-commerce giant’s private label business is much smaller than rivals, following allegations it unfairly competes with independent merchants.
Reported by Bloomberg, Mr Wilke asserts house-brand products represent only 1% of Amazon sales, with “most” of its competitors boasting a “much larger percentage.”
The news follows increasing scrutiny over Amazon’s relationship with third-party sellers, alongside calls for the tech giant to be broken up.
“We believe that the most substantial entities in the economy deserve scrutiny, and our job is to build the kind of company that passes that scrutiny with flying colors,” Wilke reportedly claimed during Amazon’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas.
Despite offering a public best-seller guide, the e-commerce giant asserts it prohibits employees from building a copycat product, stemming from third-party seller data.
Wilke has also denied claims Amazon Inc should be broken up.
Amazon Australia launched in December 2017, and boasts over 125 million products as at May 2019.
Commentators claim there’s still some way to go before the e-seller’s price competition threatens traditional local retailers, especially in the consumer electronics space.
Amazon has continued to ramp up its local presence, deploying several trademark sales down under including; Prime Day, Back to School, Mid-Year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions.
The company’s consumer electronics division has continued to swell, with latest releases including an Alexa-enabled sub-woofer and smart clock.
In contrast to its home of the United States, Australian consumer remain more partial to Google Assistant than Amazon Alexa voice intelligence.
