Unsealed court documents released Monday allege that Amazon.com Inc. coerced prominent brands into a price-fixing scheme that influenced the costs of a wide variety of goods on competing retail websites. California's attorney general stated that the e-commerce giant worked behind the scenes to prevent its prices from being undercut.
The state claims that Amazon used its overwhelming bargaining leverage to pressure vendors, such as Levi Strauss & Co. and Hanes, to make rival marketplaces charge more for their products. These brands were allegedly prodded to convince competing retailers to raise their prices on certain items.
The alleged scheme influenced pricing on websites operated by several major rivals, including Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Home Depot Inc., and Chewy Inc.