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Germany Orders Amazon To Stop Taking Advantage of People Who Can't Spell 'Birkenstock' (qz.com)
Germany has barred Amazon from drawing in online shoppers who misspell iconic German sandal maker Birkenstock in their Google searchers. "Amazon reportedly won business for common Birkenstock misspellings by booking variants like 'Brikenstock,' 'Bierkenstock,' and 'Birkenstok' in Google AdWords, so that they produced search results for shoes sold in Amazon.com," reports Quartz. From the report: According to Reuters, Birkenstock turned to the court because it feared shoppers might unwittingly buy shoddy counterfeits, which could damage its brand reputation. "For us, Amazon is complicit," Birkenstock chief Oliver Reichert told German magazine Der Spiegel, according to Reuters. Birkenstock first walked away from Amazon.com in July 2016. Besieged by counterfeits and rogue merchants, the company said it would no longer supply products to Amazon for U.S. customers starting Jan. 1, 2017. "The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an 'open market,' creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand," David Kahan, Birkenstock's CEO for the Americas, wrote in a memo at the time.
A year later, Kahan denounced Amazon in a lengthy memo for attempting to get Birkenstock retailers to sell it their inventory, even though the company had explicitly removed its sandals from Amazon.com in the U.S. "I share in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Kahan wrote. "[A]ny Authorized retailer who may do this for even a single pair will be closed FOREVER."
A year later, Kahan denounced Amazon in a lengthy memo for attempting to get Birkenstock retailers to sell it their inventory, even though the company had explicitly removed its sandals from Amazon.com in the U.S. "I share in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Kahan wrote. "[A]ny Authorized retailer who may do this for even a single pair will be closed FOREVER."
Alibaba is owned by some sleazy Chinese
They sell counterfeits
Amazon is owned by an Outstanding American Super-Billionaire who told us he won't sell counterfeits
"Amazon reportedly won business for common Birkenstock misspellings by booking variants like 'Birkenstock,' 'Bierkenstock,' and 'Birkenstok' in Google AdWords"
Slasdot editors are evidently unable to properly misspell Birkenstock.
Really, the court ruling is idiotic. If Amazon cannot book those words, some counterfeiter will. And what permutations, exactly, counts as a misspelling? What about other names, where there are many legitimate spellings?
That said, Amazon has really shot itself in the foot with it's 3rd party marketplace. It is increasingly difficult to sort out the crap, the potential crap, and the legitimate products. Personally, and precisely for this reason, I order a lot less from Amazon than I used to.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Wow, it's so good I can even tell the difference in the first variant!
Wear real shoes people, they protect your toes.
The question is not whether dumb people deserve to get ripped off. The question is whether Birkenstock deserves to lose those sales. Anti-counterfeiting laws are not meant to protect customers (even if that's how they are sold to the public).
What does puzzle me a bit, though, is how Birkenstock can prohibit certified Birkenstock retailers from selling on Amazon, and threaten to close them forever if they do. Wouldn't that run afoul of a bunch of competition laws?
A company that thinks they're going to teach Amazon a lesson by not selling their products there makes the same mistake small shop owners make by not moving away when a Walmart opens down the street. Very noble and for a minute it may work, but sooner than later the business dies because customer loyalty is fragile, especially on things worth at most $100-$200.
For instance I like Garmin GPS products, but when I want a new GPS device I'm not going to fuck around browsing individual websites and opening accounts right and left and dealing with weird shipping rules, I go on Amazon. If there's no Garmin there I'll give another brand a chance because my loyalty doesn't trump the convenience of just adding it to a shopping cart full of other stuff already connected to my credit card and shipping info.
Those birkenstock people are not gonna win.
lucm, indeed.
For instance I like Garmin GPS products, but when I want a new GPS device I'm not going to fuck around browsing individual websites and opening accounts right and left and dealing with weird shipping rules, I go on Amazon. If there's no Garmin there I'll give another brand a chance because my loyalty doesn't trump the convenience of just adding it to a shopping cart full of other stuff already connected to my credit card and shipping info.
I'm almost the polar opposite. Once Ive fonud a product I want, I'll go where I can get it. I figure that if it's above a certain amount and I'm going to be using it a lot, then the time saved by getting a good quality one that I know will work and I know how to use will trump the one off cost of 3 to 4 minutes required to buy it from not amazon.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
What does puzzle me a bit, though, is how Birkenstock can prohibit certified Birkenstock retailers from selling on Amazon, and threaten to close them forever if they do. Wouldn't that run afoul of a bunch of competition laws?
Manufacturers can sell to whoever they want, as long as they don't discriminate based against any of the protected groups (race, religion, sex, age, etc). They can simply say "if you sell through Amazon, we will not longer sell to you". They are of course free to buy retail and re-sell on Amazon, but it doesn't make sense anymore. I've dealt with this in the past with manufacturers who set their prices based on country, and for the very same goods would charge as much as 3x depending on the destination country. There it makes sense to buy a trainload of shoes, for example, destined to a country where the shoes are cheaper, and then resell those shoes in countries where the price is 3x. This happens, but the re-sellers are very careful because if they caught selling to such "grey market" they lose their re-seller status. I've dealt with this in pre-Amazon days with shoes and once with cars as you used to be able to get away with it some small scale, but nowadays the manufacturers are viciously tracking this types of sales, so all re-sellers are scared.
The Birkenstock crowd has a rep for being the laid-back hippie Earthmother types. This guy sounds like he's engaged in a scorched-earth battle with Amazon and is willing to burn down anyone else who gets in his way.
No, he sounds like a guy fed up with unsatisfied consumers who bought "beercanstocks" thinking they were authentic, which will damage a reputable brand and product.
And if the manufacturer allegedly stopped selling valid product to Amazon US customers a year ago, no wonder he's pissed. Amazon hasn't done jack shit to deter counterfeiters from selling knock-offs. There's a fucking Birkenstock Amazon store which features their logo, valid photos, obscene prices (one pair had a $130 - 817.78 price range?!), and plenty of reviews warning people about fakes.
Even hippies have their limits. Everyone does.