Golf club maker Ping fined £1.45m for preventing online sales
Golf club maker Ping has been fined £1.45m by the Competition and Markets Authority, for preventing retailers from selling its products online.
The regulator handed down the fine on Thursday after it found Ping broke competition law, by stopping two UK retailers selling Ping products on their websites.
It said Ping was now required to bring an end to the online sales ban, and must not impose “the same or equivalent terms” on other retailers.
“Whilst Ping must allow retailers to sell online, it may require them to meet certain conditions before doing so,” the CMA said in its statement.
“These conditions must, though, be compatible with competition law.”
The CMA said it found that, while Ping was pursuing a “genuine commercial aim” of promoting in-store custom fitting, it could have achieved that through less restrictive means.
“The internet is an increasingly important distribution channel and retailers’ ability to sell online, and reach as wide a customer base as possible, should not be unduly restricted,” said the CMA’s senior director for antitrust enforcement, Ann Pope.
“The fine the CMA has today imposed on Ping should act as a warning to companies that preventing its products from being sold online could be illegal.
“The level of the fine imposed on Ping reflects that the CMA found the breach of competition law occurred in the context of a genuine commercial aim of promoting in-store custom fitting,” Pope said.