At the end of 2023, Zulily, a well-known maternal and infant e-commerce platform in the United States, was on the verge of bankruptcy. In Zulily’s view, reaching this point was inseparable from Amazon’s malicious competition, so she resolutely filed a lawsuit against it.
Zulily claimed in the lawsuit that Amazon illegally used contracts and other means to restrict third-party sellers from offering lower prices than Amazon on other e-commerce platforms. This led to a decline in Zulily's sales and traffic, and consumers were forced to pay Higher shopping costs.
However, just days after the lawsuit was filed, Zulily collapsed. The outside world thought that with Zulily's exit, this case would just sink into the dust and remain unsolved.
Surprisingly, just when everyone thought Zulily was going to retire, someone brought it back. In March 2024, online retailer Beyond Inc. acquired Zulily for $4.5 million. In September 2024, Zulily was newly launched and operated. Shortly after its "rebirth", there were new developments in the case.
On December 31st, Judge John Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that Zulily claimed to be a victim of Amazon and had provided sufficient evidence to prove that it competed with Amazon in the online market and could file an antitrust lawsuit.
Zulily also fully alleged that Amazon's "anti-discounting" practices, such as punishing third-party sellers for offering lower prices on Zulily's platform, were anticompetitive under federal antitrust law, the judge wrote. He gave Zulily until January 31st to file an amended complaint.
This is not the first time Amazon has been accused of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the e-commerce field and stifling competition.
Months before Zulily filed the lawsuit, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. It alleges that Amazon illegally maintains a monopoly by punishing sellers who sell products at discounts outside of Amazon and requiring them to use Amazon's own fulfillment services to gain favorable placement on the site.
Amazon tried to dismiss the FTC lawsuit, but was unsuccessful. In October 2024, John Chun, who is also responsible for overseeing FTC cases, approved the FTC’s request to file an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. The case will be heard in 2026.
