From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.

Introduction

With your E-Commerce Retail Briefing for today, Friday the 13th… September 13, 2019, I'm Vincent Phamvan.

Retail giant, Amazon, has faced scrutiny over the years after experiencing accelerated growth. Now the FTC is reportedly investigating the company over antitrust concerns. A team is conducting interviews of marketplace sellers to discover any practices that violate the antitrust laws and identify markets the retailer dominates.

First, here are some retail headlines.

Highsnobiety Launches Global E-Commerce Platform

Online publisher and media brand, Highsnobiety, has launched its first global e-commerce platform. Partnering with commercetools, the media brand now has a way to connect their audience with the products they’re reading about on their different platforms. According to their VP of Strategy and Operations, this gives them a strong back end to help continue scaling their business.

Strong Roots Receives $18.3 Million in Funding

Frozen vegetarian food company, Strong Roots, announced receiving $18.3 million in funding. The new funds came from private equity firm, Goode Partners, who has previously invested in companies like AllSaints and La Colombe. Strong Roots plans to use the funding to not only expand in the U.S., but to support their development efforts in providing functional food and nutrients. The company is on track to move $50 million in frozen food this year and to quadruple their sales over the next four years.

Stripe Launches Corporate Credit Card

Digital payments company, Stripe, is continuing to push further into the financial services market. This week, the company announced they were launching a corporate credit card. The announcement comes shortly after rolling out a new lending product on its platform. According to Stripe, the new credit card is for the digital companies who are ignored by traditional banks and cuts the time needed to apply. The move is their latest strategy to bring in more small businesses and startups.

Amazon Faces Antitrust Scrutiny

A team from the Federal Trade Commision is reportedly interviewing sellers using Amazon’s platform. The probe is meant to determine whether or not Amazon is violating antitrust laws by leveraging their market power. The investigation is the latest scrutiny over Amazon’s business practices as they’ve seen accelerated growth and expanded into more lines of business. In a report from Bloomberg, they claimed the Federal Trade Commision was in the early stages of a sweeping investigation exploring Amazon’s business practices that may violate laws and identifying markets dominated by the giant. Amazon has recently faced accusations that the data they collect from their marketplace gives them an unfair advantage over competing retailers. The European Union is also investigating how Amazon uses sensitive information from third-party sales on their site.

Bloomberg also reported in August that Amazon has penalized sellers who offer lower prices on competing websites, a practice that could draw antitrust scrutiny. The group Retail Industry Leaders Association alleged that sellers don’t have viable options beyond Amazon and consumers may not understand who they’re buying from. Neither the FTC or Amazon have publicly acknowledged the investigation.

Closing

Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the E-Commerce Retail Briefing. Don't forget, Simplr can help you scale up your customer service with 24/7 support. Find out more at Simplr.ai. Until next time.