24/09/2025
Amazon Boxed In After CAT Certifies Class Actions
This week’s key terms/concepts:
• Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT): A specialist judicial body in the UK that deals with cases concerning competition and economic regulation.
• Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO): A not-for-profit body in the UK that represents consumers in the civil justice system, typically involved in shaping public policy and regulation.
• Price-parity clause (or Most-Favoured-Nation [MFN] clause): A contractual term used by businesses to restrict sellers from lowering their prices on other platforms, potentially leading to higher consumer prices.
This past summer, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) published its decision to certify a dual class action against Amazon, amounting to roughly £4bn between the two class actions. The first lawsuit was certified in July regarding Amazon’s ‘Buy Box’, allegedly misleading customers through the prioritisation of more expensive products that benefitted the company. This was followed by a second class action filed by the UK’S ACSO in August over the company allegedly blocking third-party sellers from lowering prices outside of the Amazon marketplace, allowing Amazon to charge higher fees to consumers.
Why is this significant?
The dual class action is indicative of the increasing amount of pressure and scrutiny that online marketplaces such as Amazon have been facing this past decade. In particular, the ASCO claim is not the first time that Amazon have been hit with allegations surrounding price-parity clauses, with similar investigations having previously taken place in both Japan in 2017 and in Europe in 2019. With the CAT allowing both claims to proceed, it suggests that there is a broader willingness by regulators both in the UK and internationally to challenge dominant digital platforms on issues such as those concerning consumers. Across the pond, a similar rise in competition/antitrust actions has been recognised, which has been grasped in our previous article on Google’s lawsuits.
What does this mean for law firms?
The decision points towards a growing volume of competition and antitrust litigation, particularly in relation to digital platforms and online marketplaces. Competition law practices and disputes teams are likely to see greater demand for both claimant groups and tech companies seeking defence strategies in the future, as well as more general regulatory and compliance departments that are likely to engage in advising clients on pricing policies, platform governance and algorithmic practices. With similar claims gaining traction internationally, firms that specialise in cross-border litigation and regulatory matters are likely to play a key role advising clients, which could include multinational corporations.
Lex Weekly 