Confesercenti in antitrust plea on Web giant 'Wild West'

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 19 - Retail group Confesercenti has filed a complaint to Italy's antitrust authority on what it called a "Wild West" of Web giants' massive distortion of competition.
    "There are huge distortions in competition between web giants and neighborhood businesses", said the group's president, Patrizia De Luise.
    De Luise denounced "the Wild West of the web", "discounted sales in conflict with the rules" and "abuse of dominant position" such as "unilateral changes in the conditions of sale for third parties".
    She said she wanted to raise the alarm as Black Friday is approaching that "risks drying up the Christmas of the shops".
    De Luise said six out of 10 gift purchases will be on the web, according to estimates in a survey for Confesercenti by Ipsos.
    In other points, De Luise said some 3.2 billion euros in expected consumption, with respect to the government's April forecasts, had "disappeared".
    Shop openings were down by half, she added.
    photo: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (ANSA).