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Extending the consumer friendly platform to the B2B space, improving the customer experience

Key facts

  • Amazon has extended its consumer friendly platform to a specialized marketplace for businesses to buy from Amazon and third parties. Individuals can buy on behalf of their company and integrate order approval workflows as well as reporting.
  • Amazon Business serves as an example of ‘digital customer’ expectations transitioning to the B2B world.
  • While establishing user friendly and efficient e-commerce is a challenge in the B2B environment, Amazon Business is a viable service or supplementary offering for many of these B2B sellers.

Uniqueness

  • Features include: free two-day shipping on orders of $49 or more, exclusive price discounts, hundreds of millions of products, purchasing system integration, tax-exempt purchasing for qualified customers, shared payment methods, order approval workflows, and enhanced order reporting among others.
  • Live Expert program: allows manufacturers to easily connect with buyers & answer questions about products.

Value

  • The B2B wholesale market represents between $7.2 and $8.2 trillion in the U.S. alone.
  • Amazon charges third-party sellers a commission on sales ranging from 6% to 15%, depending on the product category and the size of an order.
  • Personalization will be available by industry vertical, like construction, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and food service.

Approach

  • Amazon initially launched Amazon Supply in 2012 that grew to over 2.25 million products ranging from janitorial suppliers to metal-cutting tools and industrial equipment. Amazon Supply was later supplanted by Amazon Business.
  • Amazon Business launched in April 2015, with over 250 million products and a more holistic marketplace for B2B companies. Currently Amazon Business is only available for U.S. companies but is considering expansion into other geographies.

Amazon Business is one of more than 100 case studies identified as part of the World Economic Forum’s Digital Transformation of Industries initiative.  An overview of the DTI program can be found here.

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