Amazon Business is a specialized marketplace from Amazon designed to meet the unique purchasing needs of businesses and organizations of all sizes.
While it looks and feels similar to the familiar Amazon.com, it offers a distinct set of features and benefits tailored for business procurement.
Launched in 2015, Amazon Business has quickly grown to become a significant player in the B2B e-commerce space, reaching billions in annualized sales. It aims to streamline the purchasing process, provide cost savings, and offer greater control and visibility over business spending.
Who is Amazon Business for?
Amazon Business is designed to serve a wide range of organizations, including:
- Small businesses and sole proprietors: For managing office supplies, equipment, and other operational needs.
- Medium-sized businesses: To centralize procurement, manage multiple users, and track departmental spending.
- Large enterprises and corporations: For complex procurement workflows, integration with existing e-procurement systems, and managing a large volume of diverse purchases across many departments.
- Government agencies and public sector organizations: To meet specific procurement regulations and purchasing needs.
- Educational institutions and non-profits: For acquiring necessary supplies and equipment.
Key Features and Benefits of Amazon Business:
- Vast Selection of Business-Specific Products: Beyond typical office supplies, Amazon Business offers millions of business-relevant and industry-specific products not typically found on the consumer Amazon site. This includes IT equipment, janitorial supplies, medical supplies, restaurant equipment, industrial tools, and more.
- Business-Only Pricing and Quantity Discounts:
- Access to exclusive pricing available only to business customers.
- Quantity Discounts: Significant price breaks when purchasing in bulk, often with tiered discounts for higher volumes.
- Request for Quote (RFQ): For very large or high-volume orders, businesses can request special discounted pricing directly from sellers.
- Multi-User Accounts and User Management:
- Create a single business account and invite multiple users from your organization to shop.
- Roles and Permissions: Assign different roles to users (e.g., buyer, administrator) with varying purchasing permissions and spending limits.
- Approval Workflows: Implement custom approval processes for purchases to ensure compliance with company policies and budgets. Administrators can set spending limits, review orders before they are placed, and require multiple approvals for larger purchases.
- Spend Visibility and Analytics:
- Reporting Dashboards: Access detailed reports and visual dashboards that provide insights into your organization’s spending patterns.
- Track purchases by user, department, product category, and more, helping to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize budgeting.
- Easily access invoices, receipts, and other financial documents in one central location.
- Flexible Payment Options:
- Use shared payment methods across your team.
- Pay by Invoice: Eligible businesses can apply for extended payment terms (e.g., 30, 45, or 60 days) to optimize cash flow, upon approval.
- Corporate credit lines and tax-exempt purchases (for qualifying organizations).
- Convenient Delivery Options:
- Free Two-Day Shipping: On eligible items for all Amazon Business account holders.
- Consolidated Shipping: Receive multiple items in fewer packages to simplify receiving.
- Amazon Day Delivery: Choose a specific day of the week to receive all your Amazon Business shipments.
- Pallet Delivery: For large or bulk orders.
- Tax Exemption Program: Qualifying tax-exempt organizations can enroll in Amazon’s Tax Exemption Program to automatically remove sales tax from eligible purchases.
- Integration with e-Procurement Systems: Amazon Business can integrate with over 100 popular e-procurement systems (e.g., PunchOut catalogs), streamlining the purchasing process for large organizations with existing procurement software.
- Guided Buying (with Business Prime): Set up policies that guide employees toward preferred products, suppliers, or product categories, ensuring compliant spending and optimizing choices.
- Business Prime Membership (Optional, Paid):
- Similar to Amazon Prime for consumers, Business Prime is a paid annual membership that unlocks additional, enhanced benefits.
- Tiered Plans: Business Prime offers different tiers (Duo, Essentials, Small, Medium, Enterprise) based on the number of users and required features.
- Benefits often include more robust spend visibility, enhanced guided buying capabilities, extended payment terms, and faster, unlimited free shipping on eligible orders.
- Business Prime Duo: Free for single-user business accounts that also have a personal Amazon Prime membership.
In summary, Amazon Business transforms the traditional procurement process by bringing the convenience, selection, and competitive pricing of Amazon.com to the business world, along with specialized tools for managing purchases at scale. It aims to make business buying simpler, more efficient, and more cost-effective
