France tackles Amazon’s book trade – POLITICO

PARIS – Who remembers that Amazon was once an online bookstore? Well, France is doing it.

In a new blow to the e-commerce giant, French lawmakers this week will consider a bill that would effectively prevent Amazon from offering virtually free shipping for book purchases – a major selling point for the online platform. compared to traditional bookstores.

The bill, which originated in the Senate and supported by President Emmanuel Macron himself, aims to protect physical stores from competition from Amazon, which has shaken them. It is the latest in a series of moves to bolster local culture against foreign tech companies, including backing news publishers against Google and Facebook and backing broadcasters against Netflix.

“The objective is to reduce the distortion of competition between online players who can offer book deliveries at a penny, and others,” said Geraldine Bannier in an interview. Bannier, member of the MoDem, party allied with Emmanuel Macron, is in charge of the bill in the lower house.

The text, which will be examined on Wednesday by the Culture Committee of the National Assembly, should require a minimum price for book deliveries. In other words, Amazon’s promise of almost free delivery of books would no longer be legal in France.

The US e-commerce giant is opposed to the new rules, according to several French officials, who said the company was lobbying against them.

Amazon declined to comment for this article.

French politicians have long defended independent bookstores against the American tech company – once described by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as “the death of bookstores” – and some have even called for a boycott of Amazon.

Between 2006 and 2019, the market share of the 3,300 independent French bookstores would have fallen by nearly 3 percentage points due to competition from e-merchants such as Amazon and Fnac. During the first coronavirus lockdown, bookstores also had to close – but were labeled ‘essential businesses’ in early 2021 and allowed to remain open. In 2020, one in five bookstores lost more than 10% of their revenue compared to 2019.

France is no stranger to the regulation of the book sector.

In the early 1980s, the country passed a “single book price” law, requiring publishers to decide on prices. Distributors then set theirs within a very limited window between 95% and 100% of the price dictated by the publishers.

In addition to this rule, free deliveries are technically not allowed. Policymakers now have the impression that the wide range of delivery rates – from € 0.01 to € 7 depending on the distributor – defeats the law’s goal of having a single price for books.

The new bill would require retailers to charge for shipping books at a minimum price to be set by the ministries of economy and culture, based on a proposal from telecommunications and post regulator Arcep. It would also force online platforms to more clearly differentiate new books from used books.

High level assistance

The text was originally written by Laure Darcos, senator for the conservative Les Républicains party, who previously worked for the publishing industry. “It was not an easy choice because we are making consumers pay again,” she said in an interview.

Darcos’ bill has very strong support: Emmanuel Macron, who said before the summer break that there was a problem of competition between multinationals and independent bookstores.

It’s no secret that the bill primarily targets – if not only – Amazon, which has built its global empire on fast and cheap delivery.

“It is well known that the strategy of this operator is to sacrifice its profitability in order to conquer the market through aggressive pricing policies. It compensates for its losses by offering other services, which amounts to making the book a leading product, ”declared the Minister of Culture. Roselyne Bachelot had declared in June, during the debates in the Senate, that the bill aimed to “directly contradict this strategy”.

And unsurprisingly, Amazon has pushed back the new rules.

“Amazon is afraid this will set a precedent. They want to be monopolistic on online book sales – I’m pushing where it hurts,” Darcos said.

The e-commerce giant argued that higher delivery rates would hurt rural areas with little access to physical bookstores, according to several people familiar with the company’s arguments. The U.S. tech giant also argued that they would be the only ones to benefit from the higher fees, as that would mean more margins, one of the people said. (It’s not uncommon for tech multinationals to try to convince policymakers that regulation would be counterproductive because it would actually benefit them.)

The new rules are supported by the Syndicat des librairies Françaises, but also by Amazon competitors such as Fnac and Leclerc, as retailers are forced to reduce delivery costs and eat away at their own margins to compete with the American giant. technology with deep pockets.

The bill will be presented to the plenary session of the National Assembly in early October.

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