Italy's antitrust authority has fined two subsidiaries of Amazon a total of 10 million euros ($10.7 million) for alleged unfair commercial practices, the regulator said on Wednesday, a decision the U.S. e-commerce giant said it would appeal.
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Amazon "significantly restricted consumers' freedom of choice" by automatically pre-setting a 'Subscribe and Save' option on its website for a wide selection of products, the watchdog said.
In this way consumers were more likely to opt for regular scheduled deliveries rather than one-off purchases.
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"The pre-ticking of recurring purchase induces one to periodically buy a product - even without the effective need - thus limiting one's freedom of choice," the authority said in a statement.
Amazon contested the decision and said it would appeal.
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"Every day customers benefit from the Subscribe and Save program by saving money and time on regular deliveries of items they routinely use", it said in an emailed statement.
{{/usCountry}}"Every day customers benefit from the Subscribe and Save program by saving money and time on regular deliveries of items they routinely use", it said in an emailed statement.
{{/usCountry}}The 'Subscribe and Save' option, which allows customers to schedule periodic deliveries of everyday essentials with an extra discount against the price of a single purchase, has allowed savings of more than 40 million euros ($43 million) since its launch in Italy, the company added.