Online giant Amazon has revealed new measures it hopes will stave off a possible investigation by the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
All eyes among GSCOP experts are on whether adjudicator Mark White will launch an official investigation into the retailer next week after a huge show of no confidence in its record of working within GSCOP was revealed in his YouGov survey in July.
Amazon came rock bottom of the table for the second year in a row since it was added to the list of GCA policed retailers in March 2022 and White warned that he would not hesitate to launch an investigation unless it took “swift and comprehensive action”.
White has the potential to fine companies up to 1% of their UK turnover and is understood to have held a series of meetings with Amazon since then to discuss what measures it is taking to tackle his concerns.
He is due to reveal more details of his probe next week as the GCA stages its annual conference.
The poll showed only 47% of suppliers believed Amazon operated within the code, with just 17% saying the company consistently stuck to the rules.
Amazon said that, among a raft of changes it has made, it is to hold a series of webinars with suppliers to explain the workings of a new dashboard it launched in January, alongside a 30-day guarantee to stop suppliers being hit with automatic deductions over these delivery issues.
The ‘Receive Variance Dashboard’ provides suppliers with real-time data that automatically alerts them when shipment variances occur, enabling them to resolve disputes faster.
However, the adjudicator is understood to have found widespread lack of knowledge that it even existed among suppliers.
An Amazon spokesman said: “We are committed to improving our grocery suppliers’ experience of working with us, and will continue to implement changes and initiatives to do that based on their feedback.
“We launched the dashboard in January, which allows suppliers to raise and resolve disputes faster by giving them access to real-time data for shipment variances (where retailer and supplier shipment data differs) before a deduction is made.
“Over the last few months we have been working closely with our suppliers to listen to their feedback to make it even easier to use and develop new features.
“In the coming weeks we will also launch a series of webinars to ensure suppliers can get the maximum benefit from the dashboard and the new features.”
Amazon claims it has also strengthened the level of account management support for grocery suppliers, ensuring that all suppliers had a manager they can contact about an issue.
Complaints have previously centred on its algorithm-generated systems.
“We are already receiving very positive feedback from suppliers about the impact this support is having, and we believe this will help to build long-term sustainable relationships with our suppliers,” explained the Amazon spokesman.
He added that Amazon had held more than 20 one-to-one vendor panels this year but was committed to ramping this up further.
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