Amazon Executive Undercuts Staples Claim of Competitive Threat

  • Online retailer struggles to win office supply contracts
  • U.S. claims Staples' Office Depot takeover is anticompetitive
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Amazon.com Inc. is struggling to win primary office-supply contracts with companies, one of the retailer’s executives said, undercutting a key argument Staples Inc. is making to defeat U.S. opposition to its planned takeover of rival Office Depot Inc.

Prentis Wilson, a vice president with Amazon Business, testified Tuesday in federal court in Washington that the company has made only limited efforts to obtain such contracts from companies with more than $250 million in revenue and has won only one bid. Amazon Business, which debuted a year ago, is Amazon’s third foray into the business-to-business marketplace.