Is Amazon Business worth it? / For whom is Amazon Business worth it?

Most people are probably familiar with Amazon as a platform for B2C business. With the "Amazon Business" service, however, Amazon also specifically targets business customers in the B2B sector. We took a closer look at the service in order to be able to weigh up whether registering for Amazon Business is actually worth it. 

What is Amazon Business?

In simplified terms, Amazon Business is a service that transfers Amazon's usual business model from the B2C sector to the B2B sector. This means that all items available on Amazon can be purchased for business purposes. For business use, registration is required (instructions are provided at the end of the article). After successful registration, the business marketplace can be accessed. The design of this marketplace differs from the usual B2C marketplace, but it is identical to it in terms of structure and functionality.

Why Amazon wants to promote B2B businesses on its platform becomes clear when one takes a closer look at the market volume and growth prospects. According to an evaluation by the strategy consultancy FOSTEC & Company as a result, the market volume in the B2B area is around twice as large as that in the B2C market. In addition, the share of B2B online transactions is even lower than that in the B2C area. Further analyses assume that this share will increase significantly in the coming years due to ongoing digitization. Accordingly, the growth prospects of the market are definitely given.

Advantages for companies

What are the advantages of the "Amazon Business" service for companies? Is registration worthwhile at all?

1. wide range of products

Through its existing infrastructure, Amazon provides access to over 250 million products from different merchants that every business needs. You can compare these products with other products on different criteria. This way you will always find the best and cheapest product.

2. invoices and net prices

When buying via Amazon Business, you can filter according to whether sellers issue proper invoices with correctly stated sales tax as well as all other mandatory information. In addition, you can search and filter for net prices. This point is particularly relevant in the B2B context, since in most cases net payments are made and a correct invoice with VAT shown is necessary for this.

3. price differences and quantity discounts

For some products, you as a business customer will receive more favorable offers than on Amazon's classic B2C marketplace. In addition, you can benefit from exclusive volume discounts. For larger orders, these can either be requested before the purchase or shown by the merchant himself.

4. payment term

For business transactions, it is possible to order on account and settle it with a payment term of up to 30 days.

5. purchasing management and analyses

One point that is particularly relevant for larger companies is that employees can be assigned to different groups with different rights and budgets. In addition, tools offer the possibility of evaluating purchases and discovering and highlighting potential savings.

All in all, the service offers companies a clear opportunity to centralize and standardize business orders to a large extent. In particular, volume discounts, the display of net prices, and correctly listed invoices offer companies clear added value compared to conventional B2C sellers. So registering can definitely be worthwhile.