This apparent turnabout comes just as the German Cartel Office has agreed to shelve its anti-trust challenge against Adidas after the company agreed to stop banning sales of its products on third-party internet marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay as well as local platforms such as Rakuten.de, Tatego.de, Hitmeister.de and MeinPaket.de.
The German anti-trust authority, which has enacted similar proceedings against Asics, said it welcomed the fact that retailers are now being authorized to sell Adidas' products over the internet not only through their own online shops but also through online marketplaces.
Adidas stressed that it would continue to require qualitative criteria for the presentation of its merchandise in open marketplaces. However, in an amended version of its selective retailing guidelines, the Three Stripes have also authorized their retail clients to use Adidas-related terms for advertising through search engines such as Google AdWords.
The move triggered a negative statement from Werner Haizmann, president of the German sporting goods retailers' federation (VDS), who felt that such permissions could lead to increased price competition, threatening the existence of many of its members.
The German Cartel Office pointed out that it has been following European anti-trust guidelines in its challenge against Adidas and Asics, which should be regarded as a test case. As previously reported, Asics has agreed to review its own selective distribution guidelines but that process is apparently not yet completed.
