Amazon s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First ProPublica
Until recently, when Amazon customers typed melatonin into the site s search bar, a variety of sleep supplements would appear in the most coveted real estate on the listings results top left on the first page.
One of consultant Jason Boyce s clients, a seller of natural supplements, often sought to outbid competitors for the best spots by promising Amazon about $6 each time someone clicked on the product. While the brand never attained the top left slot, it regularly landed in the top row. But in late March, Boyce noticed that Amazon s own brand, Solimo, had taken over the top left, while his client s product had been bumped to a lower row. Then Boyce typed ground coffee in the search bar, only to find AmazonFresh Colombia ground coffee in the top left, pushing down another client.
This is madness, Boyce said. They re putting their own product right in the front of the line.