The strength of the U.S. digital economy lies in its adaptability. Since the FTC began investigating Amazon in 2019, commerce has been reshaped by innovation, new entrants, CVOID, and shifting consumer preferences. Since then online and offline shopping evolved rapidly amid fierce competition from brick-and-mortar stores, undermining the case’s premise. The agency’s lawsuit relies on outdated assumptions and narrow market definitions that do not  reflect reality.

— When it filed the case, the FTC said Amazon’s competitors were eBay and the online segments of Walmart and Target. Yet during the March Economics Day hearing, the FTC lawyers couldn’t confirm who competes with Amazon, saying: “If the evidence supports the idea that Amazon raised prices, and saw very little substitution to anyone, that might suggest Amazon is the only firm in the market.”

—  This contradicts how everyone else—consumers, third-party sellers, other businesses—sees the market. For example, Costco’s, CVS’s, and Target’s 2023 10Ks—regulatory filings through which publicly-traded companies inform their shareholders—all refer to Amazon as a competitor.  

New Platforms Have Expanded the E-Commerce Landscape

The rise of online shopping platforms, amplified by powerful new tools like AI and cloud computing, has redefined what it means to compete online. This has enabled a wave of new entrants to thrive alongside established players, using innovations to reach customers and scale quickly. 

— AI-powered shopping is reshaping how consumers find and buy products, heading in a direction where shoppers will be able to make direct purchases from apps like ChatGPT and sell products directly to users. According to Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Jack Forestell, this “could rival the level of impact that e-commerce and mobile commerce themselves have [had].”

— Faire has enabled thousands of independent brands to reach retailers directly, bypassing traditional wholesale distributors. Its AI-powered platform connects over 100,000 brands with 700,000 retailers globally, reshaping how small businesses scale and sell.

— Resale platforms like Vinted have surged in popularity by serving cost-conscious and sustainability-minded consumers. These services offer consumer-to-consumer networks that compete on convenience and price, expanding beyond traditional retailers.

Social Media is the New Shopping Mall

Platforms once built for entertainment are now displacing traditional online shopping platforms, becoming primary destinations for product discovery and purchases—rendering the FTC’s market definitions obsolete. By embedding storefronts directly into content, social media apps are reshaping not just how people shop, but where they shop.

— TikTok Shop has rapidly grown into a retail force since it launched in 2023. By integrating shopping into short-form videos, it has allowed creators to become storefronts and turn discovery into instant purchase. On Black Friday 2024 alone, the platform generated more than $100 million in U.S. sales, triple the year before.

— Similarly, Snapchat is making AR commerce mainstream. With tools that let brands overlay virtual products in the real world, Snap is helping retailers enhance how people try, compare, and buy. A 2024 study by the National Research Group revealed Snapchat as a leading social shopping platform in the U.S.

As consumer preferences shift toward immersive, community-driven experiences, the retail industry is constantly responding and redefining itself. The lines between content, community, and commerce have blurred, creating a new competitive dimension.

Traditional Retail Giants are Expanding into Omnichannel

America’s largest retailers have modernized in the last few years. By building integrated online and offline shopping experiences, companies like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, and Safeway are competing to offer the most choice and convenience.

— Walmart and Target have invested heavily in their digital platforms, combining national reach with same-day delivery, local pickup, and personalized promotions. Their ability to leverage existing infrastructure gives them unique strengths in retail. In the first quarter of 2025, Walmart’s global e-commerce sales grew by 22% while Target’s e-commerce operations contributed approximately 20% to the company’s total revenues, and were the only part of the company to experience year-over-year growth.

— The Home Depot has been boosting its omnichannel experience for so-called “Click-and-Mortar” shoppers after finding in 2023 that nearly half of its online orders were fulfilled in physical stores. The company is also focusing on its B2B sales to further improve retail offerings. 

— Grocery chains like Safeway have partnered with tech companies like DoorDash to make near-instant delivery a standard offering, providing a faster alternative to buying from online stores.

— Smaller retailers also built out their digital offerings, bringing more brick-and-mortar stores online. Founded in 2020, Bookshop.org enables independent bookstores to sell online while keeping revenue local, a powerful example of how technology can create new competitive fronts. Earlier this year, Bookshop even added an e-books platform, available on its website or app stores, where readers can purchase and download e-books from local bookstores that individually struggled to meet publishers’ technological standards.

These innovations have blurred the boundary between online shopping and in-person shopping, if they ever existed. Today’s retailers constantly compete against each other across all sales channels, and not just on inventory or price, but also on speed and convenience.

The FTC’s Case Against Amazon is Significantly Outdated

By the time the trial finally starts in 2027, the FTC will have been investigating Amazon for eight years. In that time, retail has transformed—and will continue to do so—in the face of changing consumer behavior. But the FTC hasn’t managed to finish building its case. If Amazon were a “monopolist” as the agency alleged, why would the FTC let these supposed harms go unanswered for eight years? The truth is that Amazon exists in an extremely dynamic and competitive retail industry. The pace of innovation doesn’t reflect monopoly power; it demonstrates a fiercely competitive shopping ecosystem where no player can afford to stand still.