February 19, 2024
US
Amazon, the e-commerce giant, has just confirmed an increase in its delivery costs for books, an announcement that is raising concerns among consumers.
In the near future, book purchases on major online platforms will incur additional shipping costs. Orders under €35 will require a minimum of €3 for delivery.
For orders over €35, e-commerce giants will no longer be able to offer free delivery, but they will be able to reduce these costs to €0.01.
The objective behind this decision in France is to put major online platforms and independent bookstores on an equal footing by prohibiting free delivery.
“As of October 7, 2023, a new regulation on the delivery costs of new books will come into force in France. It will apply to all book sellers in France and will impose a minimum of €3 delivery costs for any order containing less than €35 of new books.
For orders containing €35 of new books or more, the minimum delivery charge will be €0.01.”
With this decision, Amazon is undoubtedly worried about losing some of its Prime subscribers, for whom the free delivery of books was a solid marketing argument, justifying in particular the recent price increases.
This time, the French decision seems difficult to get around.
In fact, Amazon already submitted an appeal to the Council of State last June to try to invalidate this measure, which it considers to be an “excess of power”.
According to the French branch of society, this cultural exception “will penalize readers, authors and reading in general, and we call for consumer rights to be asserted. This measure will have a significant impact on the French budget.”
Since the start of discussions about shipping costs for books, Amazon has always said that free delivery helps, at least in part, to compensate for the absence of local bookstores in some rural areas or areas that lack this type of business.
