Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has indicated that in the future it spends billions in policing products on its site. This is in a bid to prevent the sale of dangerous products, expired food as well as counterfeit products on its platform. According to the company’s consumer chief Jeff Wilke, they want to preserve customer trust which is vital to Amazon’s future.
Amazon accused of selling counterfeit, expired and unsafe products
In recent months the company has faced criticism regarding the sale of expired and unsafe products. This follows a publication on the Wall Street Journal that pointed to the availability of over 4,000 unsafe or expired third party products on the site. The Wall Street Journal had indicated that there were products such as supplements with illegally imported prescription drugs as well as substandard motorcycle helmets.
However, on Tuesday Wilke denied the allegations stating theta they offer safe and legitimate products on the site. He said that the company has employed over 5,000 people to police then site to ensure there are no counterfeit products. The company uses over $400 million annually in policing their platform but Wilke added that there are still some bad actors finding themselves on the site.
Amazon increasing spending on policing their site
As a result, Wilke indicated that they are enhancing policing of the site and they will be vigilant to avoid selling consumers unsafe and counterfeit products. Amazon plans to spend billions of dollars to protect the site. The company’s global consumer CEO said that every day they are more than 5 billion changes regarding details of products. This shows how massive Amazon’s virtual store has grown with millions of listings.
The issue of having unsafe product listing prompted some Democratic Senators to ask the company to review its quality controls to avoid listing such products. This comes at the back of growing regulatory scrutiny from Congress and regulators on Amazon and other tech firms. The company has received criticism on how it treats its warehouse workers and its employees are fighting for unionization.
