Amazon’s treatment of suppliers has improved, according to the latest supplier survey by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), but not enough to save it from the threat of a fine of 1% of its UK turnover.
The online giant nevertheless remained rooted at the bottom of the table published today by Adjudicator Mark White, although its score in his YouGov survey improved, with 66% of suppliers saying it either consistently or mostly complied with the code, compared to just 47% in the 2024 survey.
However, the survey also showed Amazon was still proportionately by far the most complained-about retailer in the list of 14 policed by the GCA.
It showed 13% of Amazon’s suppliers had raised an issue with the retailer in the past year, a far higher proportion than any other retailer on the list.
The closest was Sainsbury’s, which saw issues raised by just 3% of its supplier base.
On Friday, White said he had “reasonable grounds” to suspect Amazon had breached paragraph five of the groceries code (no delay in payments) between 1 March 2022 and 20 June 2025. This is based on evidence from a range of sources.
Code compliance
The survey, which is the twelfth since the Adjudicator was set up, reveals the proportion of suppliers reporting that they faced a code issue fell from 33% in 2024 to 30% in 2025.
There was also improvement in code compliance across the retailers. Average perceived code compliance rose from 91% in 2024 to 93% in 2025, which White said was driven by improvements at the five retailers with the lowest perceived code compliance in 2024.
This year Waitrose topped the table, with its perceived compliance coming in at 98%.
Last year’s number one, Co-op, had its perceived compliance fall from 98% to 96%, putting it mid-table.
Many of the major retailers were concentrated together, with five retailers – M&S, B&M, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado – all scoring 97%.
There were changes in position at the bottom of the table, with Lidl now joint-second-bottom with Home Bargains. Iceland’s score improved from 89% last year to 93%.
However, all retailers, apart from Amazon, achieved scores higher than 90%. The average compliance across all retailers was 93%, compared to 91% in 2024.
Supplier concerns
The survey revealed 17% of suppliers said they had experienced inadequate processes and procedures around enabling invoice discrepancies to be resolved promptly, compared to 21% of suppliers in 2024.
Meanwhile 11% of suppliers highlighted delays in payments, the main source of complaints against Amazon, compared to 14% of suppliers in 2024.
The survey ran from 13 January until 23 February and received 2,584 responses, including 2,384 from direct suppliers.
White said: “I’m pleased that average code compliance has continued to improve across the sector, and it’s particularly encouraging that the lowest five performing retailers have improved perceptions of their overall compliance with the groceries code.
“I will speak to each retailer about suppliers’ views, and I expect them to review their individual survey results and make changes in response to issues impacting suppliers.
“When I raise issues with retailers, I do so in a way that protects suppliers’ confidentiality and does not reveal which suppliers I’ve spoken to or even what products they supply.”
On Friday the Adjudicator called for direct suppliers and other stakeholders to respond to his call for evidence and share experiences of supplying Amazon.
He said submissions could be made by completing the GCA’s confidential questionnaire, in paper or electronic form, submitted to the GCA.
The call for evidence will close on 8 August. White said all responses will be treated as completely confidential.
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