Tech Viewpoint: Three e-retailers that would benefit from Warren’s antitrust plans
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently called for the government to break up Amazon, Google, and Facebook, and three of their e-commerce competitors have specific reasons to be happy.
There is no guarantee Warren’s plan to apply antitrust regulations to e-commerce companies will ever get off the ground, but she is not the first observer to comment on the dominance Amazon, Google, and Facebook enjoy over the Internet. Here are three e-commerce participants who likely support her proposal.
Walmart
Anything that weakens Amazon’s unquestioned power position in e-commerce can only benefit Walmart. Like Amazon, Walmart has a national distribution network that can quickly deliver packages to online shoppers anywhere and the clout to force favorable terms from its suppliers. Unlike Amazon, Walmart has a robust brick-and-mortar store network to support e-commerce efforts (though Amazon is trying to change that).
If Amazon falls from its number one spot in Internet retailing, Walmart is uniquely positioned to take the throne. It is also worth noting that Warren specifically called for Amazon to spin off its successful online marketplace due to what she said are unfair business practices. Walmart also has an online marketplace with third-party sellers, but its operating model is different enough from Amazon’s to probably escape regulatory action.
Pinterest
Although not strictly speaking an online retailer, Pinterest has been increasingly enabling users to engage in e-commerce. Recent examples include shoppable product pins, and a computer vision update to its Shop the Look feature that connects users to checkout links for pinned items. In another clear sign of Pinterest’s interest in e-commerce, the social network has hired Walmart CTO Jeremy King, who was instrumental in building Walmart’s omnichannel retail business, as head of engineering.
Although Facebook does offer its own third-party marketplace, an online food ordering service, and engages in omnichannel partnerships with a variety of retailers, the company’s Instagram subsidiary is much more of a direct e-commerce competitor to Pinterest. While Instagram’s online retail efforts, like its new in-app “Checkout on Instagram” feature, are developed independently of Facebook, the disruption caused by Warren’s proposed undoing of the Facebook-Instagram merger may inhibit the visual social platform’s e-commerce developments.
eBay
Anything that weakens the scope or influence of the Amazon and Google online third-party marketplaces can only help the e-tailer who pioneered the marketplace model. Since eBay essentially sells none of its own merchandise, it has nothing to fear from Warren’s proposals to crack down on marketplace retailers with unfair proprietary sales practices.
A new e-commerce environment where the Amazon and Google marketplaces had to operate without the resources of their parent companies would create a huge competitive opening for eBay. Along with Walmart, eBay would stand to potentially pick up the online business of a lot of brands and retailers that currently operate stores on the Amazon and/or Google platforms.
eBay seems to be preparing for an influx of business from younger and international consumers with plans to accept Google Pay for some purchases, as well as its acceptance of Apple Pay.
There is no guarantee Warren’s plan to apply antitrust regulations to e-commerce companies will ever get off the ground, but she is not the first observer to comment on the dominance Amazon, Google, and Facebook enjoy over the Internet. Here are three e-commerce participants who likely support her proposal.
Walmart
Anything that weakens Amazon’s unquestioned power position in e-commerce can only benefit Walmart. Like Amazon, Walmart has a national distribution network that can quickly deliver packages to online shoppers anywhere and the clout to force favorable terms from its suppliers. Unlike Amazon, Walmart has a robust brick-and-mortar store network to support e-commerce efforts (though Amazon is trying to change that).
If Amazon falls from its number one spot in Internet retailing, Walmart is uniquely positioned to take the throne. It is also worth noting that Warren specifically called for Amazon to spin off its successful online marketplace due to what she said are unfair business practices. Walmart also has an online marketplace with third-party sellers, but its operating model is different enough from Amazon’s to probably escape regulatory action.
Although not strictly speaking an online retailer, Pinterest has been increasingly enabling users to engage in e-commerce. Recent examples include shoppable product pins, and a computer vision update to its Shop the Look feature that connects users to checkout links for pinned items. In another clear sign of Pinterest’s interest in e-commerce, the social network has hired Walmart CTO Jeremy King, who was instrumental in building Walmart’s omnichannel retail business, as head of engineering.
Although Facebook does offer its own third-party marketplace, an online food ordering service, and engages in omnichannel partnerships with a variety of retailers, the company’s Instagram subsidiary is much more of a direct e-commerce competitor to Pinterest. While Instagram’s online retail efforts, like its new in-app “Checkout on Instagram” feature, are developed independently of Facebook, the disruption caused by Warren’s proposed undoing of the Facebook-Instagram merger may inhibit the visual social platform’s e-commerce developments.
eBay
Anything that weakens the scope or influence of the Amazon and Google online third-party marketplaces can only help the e-tailer who pioneered the marketplace model. Since eBay essentially sells none of its own merchandise, it has nothing to fear from Warren’s proposals to crack down on marketplace retailers with unfair proprietary sales practices.
A new e-commerce environment where the Amazon and Google marketplaces had to operate without the resources of their parent companies would create a huge competitive opening for eBay. Along with Walmart, eBay would stand to potentially pick up the online business of a lot of brands and retailers that currently operate stores on the Amazon and/or Google platforms.
eBay seems to be preparing for an influx of business from younger and international consumers with plans to accept Google Pay for some purchases, as well as its acceptance of Apple Pay.