Competition law — 07/03/2023

The Responsible Online Commerce Coalition (ROCC): Businesses team up to ensure a level playing field in e-commerce

The Responsible Online Commerce Coalition (ROCC) is a trade association for businesses that rely on Amazon and other large online commerce platforms to reach their customers. Founded in March 2023 by Geradin Partners (in the EU and UK) and Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca (in the US), ROCC is working to ensure fair play for all businesses that operate in online commerce—from the very smallest third-party sellers to the world’s largest household brands. 

ROCC’s central aim is to ensure a level playing field where businesses that offer the best products can prosper because consumers can easily find and buy their genuine products for the best price. Its members appreciate the important role that Amazon and other online marketplaces play in the modern economy and want consumers and businesses to enjoy the substantial benefits that flow from free and fair online commerce now and well into the future. 

ROCC will promote 12 key principles relating to the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of businesses that rely on online commerce to reach their customers. These principles include competitive pricing for seller commissions and fees, brand integrity (including protection from counterfeit products), the freedom to offer discounts and lower prices across different sales channels, the ability to choose rather than be forced to use a given platform’s services, access to and control over proprietary and competitively sensitive data, and the provision of objective search results. 

ROCC’s focus is primarily on the U.S., the European Union, and the UK, but these issues are global in scope. It will work constructively with policymakers, legislators, competition authorities and courts. Its objective is to make balanced and evidence-based proposals that will help educate all stakeholders and improve the quality of debate at a time when multiple jurisdictions are working to establish the rules of the road for digital markets.

ROCC has been founded by Damien Geradin and Tom Smith of Geradin Partners and Amanda Lewis of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca (who led the Amazon aspects of the seminal US House Sub-Committee investigation into digital markets), with significant input from leading industry expert, Jason Boyce of Avenue7Media. Please get in touch if you have any queries.

Author

Tom Smith

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