Mexican Watchdog Says Amazon, Mercado Libre Stifle E-Comm Competition
Mexico’s antitrust regulator is pointing a finger at Amazon and Latin American competitor Mercado Libre on the grounds that both e-commerce giants are engaging in anticompetitive behavior.
In a preliminary report released earlier this weel, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) called out that both marketplaces control more than 85 percent of e-commerce sales and transactions made in Mexico.
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According to the commission, Amazon and Mercado Libre have established three “possible barriers to competition” that could limit new entrants to the market and pose a “practically insurmountable challenge for the expansion of the smaller players.”
The barriers consist of the inclusion of streaming platforms into their loyalty programs; a lack of transparency in special offers, deals and pricing; and alleged preferential treatment of sellers that use their logistics solutions.
The regulator indicated that bundling streaming services, music and games can “affect the behavior of buyers, which generates an artificial strategy that attracts them,” effectively giving Amazon and Mercado Libre an advantage over players that cannot offer these services.
COFECE also alleged that since the marketplaces use algorithms to determine offers and deals, a lack of transparency in deciding what deals are promoted affects both the sellers’ ability to compete effectively and the overall competitiveness of the market.
Finally, Amazon and Mercado Libre are accused of giving preferential treatment to products from sellers who use their fulfillment services. The commission pointed out that the tech titans encourage sellers to opt for their services by offering perks such as “Prime” or “Full” distinctions.
Stemming from research conducted last year from March 31 to Oct. 27, the commission also asserted that potential competitors to both online marketplaces “exert insufficient competitive pressure on Amazon and Mercado Libre” because they lack the number of buyers and sellers needed to compete.
COFECE also said that the presence of network effects—in which the value of a product or service increases as more people use it—hinders effective competition.
To improve competition between services, COFECE proposed a series of “corrective measures” to be completed within six months pending an official resolution, each focused on the barriers detailed in its opinion.
Amazon and the Uruguay-headquartered Mercado Libre are ordered to disassociate streaming services from their Prime and Meli+ programs. In this sense, streaming services must be offered and charged independently and separately from any loyalty program or subscription service.
Secondly, the commission also ordered the companies to inform vendors on the platform “of all the variables and factors that are taken into consideration in selecting promoted items, to encourage certainty and transparency.” The proposal refers to Amazon’s coveted “buy box,” which is placed prominently on the screen and has led to accusations of preferential treatment of its own products or certain sellers.
COFECE also recommended Amazon and Mercado Libre to enhance transparency in their logistics service standards, allowing interested logistics and fulfillment partners to integrate into their platforms through their respective APIs.
As part of that, the commission asked the platforms to modify the criteria for assigning the “Prime” or “Full” label so they are not exclusively or preferentially assigned to sellers who contract logistics services from Amazon and Mercado Libre, respectively.
“We are aware of this preliminary report and are closely collaborating with COFECE,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “Our pro-competitive practices in Mexico spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for customers and greater opportunities for sellers across the country.”
Amazon is no stranger to accusations of anticompetitive behavior, already set for a federal antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. On Tuesday, a federal judge announced that the trial will begin October 2026.
That case lobs allegations across Amazon’s entire business, with claims that it prevents rivals and sellers from lowering prices via “anti-discounting measures” and forces sellers to use its distribution and logistics services. The claims extend to sellers’ ability to obtain Prime-eligibility for their products.
The e-commerce giant was also under a two-year antitrust probe in the E.U. before the parties reached a deal in December 2022 conditioned on concessions like adding a second Buy Box and letting Prime sellers choose any logistics carrier.
To avoid an antitrust lawsuit in the U.K., Amazon settled an investigation in the market last November. That deal involved several similar concessions from the tech titan, such as enabling Prime sellers to work with any independent delivery service, and ending the use of third-party seller data to help it decide product sales, pricing and stock levels.
COFECE will hold a plenary session at a later date to issue an official resolution on its findings. The antitrust regulator stressed that any formal resolution would not involve any economic sanctions since no official investigation into monopolistic practices has been launched.
