Amazon Business is rapidly growing into one of the company’s most successful ventures, with $35 billion in annualized sales in 2023.
Key Details
- Amazon has been building Amazon Business since 2015. Leveraging his knowledge of customer needs, internal skills, and company innovations, this division of the online retailer is specialized to cater to business owners’ specific needs.
- Since its launch, Amazon Business has successfully served sole proprietorships to Fortune 500 companies.
- Amazon Business allows these customers to make purchases in bulk while filtering for specific desires, like buying locally or from diverse business owners.
- Now, more than 6 million customers make their purchases through Amazon Business.
Why it’s news
Creating Amazon Business took time, but the division had a jump start as it used much of the infrastructure already in place through Amazon’s standard customer portal.
“Everything we do at Amazon starts with the customer, and we kept asking ourselves, ‘How can we better serve those business customers?’” vice president of Worldwide Amazon Business Alexandre Gagnon says.
“The procurement space is ready for innovation. We have leveraged the size, expertise, technology, and infrastructure we have built at Amazon, and adapted it for businesses and organizations of all sizes.”
By using these existing structures, Amazon Business developed into one of Amazon’s most successful divisions with little to no fanfare. It is one of the fastest-growing ventures in the company’s history, reaching $35 million in sales in less than 10 years.
“Amazon Business is constantly innovating on behalf of its customers—working on solutions and integrations that make procurement more efficient, reducing overhead and manual processes,” Gagnon says.
Looking At Specifics
Establishing a consistent and reliable supply chain can be a challenge for any business, but especially for smaller businesses that do not have the connections larger companies rely on. Amazon Business allows every company to have access to quick, efficient options.
Amazon Business looks very similar to the standard Amazon storefront the average customer uses. Setting up an account is available to any business owner, ranging from hair salons to government agencies. After creating an account, users have access to hundreds of millions of items directly through Amazon.
Beyond the convenience and reliability of purchasing through Amazon, businesses can also tailor their purchases to specific requirements. For example, users can set filters to only buy products made locally or that meet specific sustainability requirements.
While small businesses can benefit from easy access to resources, Amazon Business also has something to offer larger corporations. Big companies typically negotiate supply prices with a limited number of suppliers. However, Amazon Business opens up more opportunities for these businesses to find other sellers. Large companies can choose the best price from thousands of options rather than negotiating with a handful.
“Sometimes we forget all the great things that Amazon.com offers to consumers that generally don’t exist in the business world. Simple things, like knowing when items are going to get delivered. On that note, we can deliver millions of items next day,” Amazon Business director Todd Heimes says.
For larger item orders, Amazon Business can also negotiate on the company’s behalf. Through the “request a quote” option, Amazon will send out an order to sellers that will provide the requested product. Users can then select the most competitive option.
Amazon Business is already a successful branch of the Amazon brand, but the company does not plan to stop improving the system any time soon.
“We are just getting started,” Heimes says.