Amazon pays $ 2.5 billion in the United States to end a process of his subscription service Prime. The US authority FTC accused the online retailer of manipulating customers with website design so that they can complete and not cancel prime subscriptions. The lawsuit had started this week. Amazon potentially threatened even higher payments if jurors found the group guilty.
Of the money, $ 1.5 billion (around 1.28 billion euros) should be distributed at an estimated 35 million damaged Prime customers, as the FTC announced. There is also a fine of one billion dollars. Amazon was also obliged to clearly present the conditions for the completion and termination of the Prime subscriptions.
Amazon: No admission of guilt
In an Amazon position, it was said that the group and its managers had always followed the law and with the agreement you could concentrate on the business again. At the same time, the company emphasizes that the comparison has not been associated with the comparison-and mostly no changes to the current processes around Prime subscriptions were required. Amazon was confident that it was confident in court, but wanted to save the process and possibly years of appeal procedures.
In the United States, Prime membership currently costs $ 139 a year or $ 14.99. For Amazon, this is an important instrument for customer loyalty: Buy Prime subscribers more often through the free shipping for you and also have access to other services such as music and video streaming.