American online shopping giant, Amazon.com, Inc., has been told by a regulator that it must clarify “misleading” delivery charges. The Advertising Standards Authority said that there is a lack of clarity regarding which products are eligible for the retailer’s free delivery service.
An article published on The Guardian today (03/08/2016) explained how Amazon’s delivery policy is causing confusion. It reads “The search listing said the item cost £18.49 and stated it was “eligible for free UK delivery”, while a click through to the product page came up with the same price but slightly different text, “free delivery in the UK on orders over £20”. The customer complained that the ads were misleading after finding that he had to pay a delivery charge at the checkout, despite adding a second item to his basket which took the order above £20.”
The article went on to add “Amazon said the full range of delivery options and charges were presented on a page titled “About free delivery”, accessible via a link, claiming it was impossible to state the actual delivery charge on any given product page because it depended on a range of variables specific to each customer.”
The Advertising Standards Authority has told Amazon.com, Inc. to include the cost of delivery in a more transparent and clear way. Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the world, and the company has seen its profits rise by nearly 1,000% over the past year or so.
In 2016, Amazon entered and expanded in a range of markets, including the fashion industry (launching 7 fashion brands) and the cloud computing industry.
As the NASDAQ closed on the 03/08/2016, a share in Amazon.com, Inc. was trading at $760.58, down by 0.93% or $7.16 on the day. The corporation currently has a market cap of $364.81 billion, making it one of the most valuable firms in the world. The NASDAQ will open for trading in around 2 hours.