LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.—Amazon.com Inc. might need to spend billions of dollars in the future to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods, expired food or dangerous products on its platforms to preserve the customer trust that is critical to the company’s future, Amazon consumer chief Jeff Wilke said Tuesday.

The e-commerce giant has been buffeted by a wave of reports in recent months about its sale of unsafe or expired goods, including an article in The Wall Street Journal detailing the availability of more than 4,000 items that...