The Competition and Markets Authority has been analyzing
Amazon’s business for months, the newspaper said, adding regulator was focusing
on how the online retailer uses the data it collects on its platform.
The regulator has also scrutinized how Amazon decides which
merchants appear in the crucial ‘buy box’ — the white panel to the right-hand
side of a product where buyers click to add the item to their cart, the report
added.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on Thursday.
A probe into the company may focus on whether Amazon favors
merchants that also use its logistics and delivery services when deciding who
has access to the buy box and to its Prime customers, the newspaper said,
citing the sources. The timing and scope of the probe were still being worked
on, it said.
The investigation was likely to cover similar ground to
probes under way in the European Union, according to the report.
Brussels has two open probes into Amazon — one that is
looking at how the company is using data to advance its own products to the
potential detriment of rivals, and another which is looking at the criteria for
the use of the buy box.