Tesco forced to lower prices as its Amazon alter-ego Oakwood

Oakwood (forced to be?) cheaper than Tesco itself

Oakwood mainly sells DVDs and computer games, often with significant
price reductions compared to the official Tesco web shop. The Financial
Mail added examples of the DVD of The Social Network, sold for £4.89 via
Oakwood, but a full £7 at Tesco – 43% more than at Amazon.

It is ironic that Tesco, often criticised for “squeezing suppliers like a
lemon” in order to offer the lowest possible prices, now is squeezed
itself for lower prices: it seems that Amazon prohibits its third-party
sellers to sell their products cheaper anywhere else – even on their own
web shop.

Misleading the consumers – again?

The news immediately provoked an outcry from Tescopoly, a pressure group
without much love for the British market leader. “This would appear to
be another example of Tesco trying to sell more to consumers who think
they are getting an independent choice.” He points out that this has
happened before with the One Stop chain of convenience stores. 

Tesco responded with the statement that “It is public knowledge that
Oakwood is part of Tesco.” The retailer also stated that it is just
Tesco’s policy to sell excess stock “competitively through third-party
marketplaces” and that still, many consumers chose to buy directly from
Tesco.  Amazon, having published very disappointing company results last week,
points out that consumers can always check the data of sellers using the
new button “Detailed Seller Information”.