The heritage company’s decision to no longer supply Amazon is to take effect on January 1, 2017. In the first instance, only the Amazon.com sales platform is affected. In the future, however, Birkenstock would like to also prohibit third-party providers who sell products over the Amazon.com marketplace from dealing in Birkenstock shoes.
„The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an ‚open market,‘ creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand,“ said David Kahan, Chairman of the Board of Birkenstock USA, explaining the decision. „This includes postings by sellers proven to have counterfeit Birkenstock products. It also includes a constant stream of unidentifiable unauthorized sellers who show a blatant disregard for our pricing policies. Policing this activity internally and in partnership with Amazon.com has proven impossible.“
Particularly after Amazon US made it possible for Chinese vendors to offer products directly to American customers via the marketplace, a number of manufacturers have started to complain about similar problems. The only way to receive Amazon’s support in this area, however, is to sell the entire product assortment to the online sales platform, according to Kahan. He reports that this is part of Amazon’s strategy to expand its monopoly position on consumer goods of all kinds. Kahan, however, does not regard this as a viable option and prefers to maintain control of the Birkenstock brand.
For this reason, the shoe company will also rely on communication in the future and call on its customers to order exclusively from authorised dealers while exercising critical discretion with Amazon offers.
