The news: Ten years after its establishment, Amazon Business is expanding its seller network and product selection to serve an 8 million global organization customer base, which has grown 33% from 6 million in 2023.
The Amazon Business marketplace supplies a wide assortment of everyday and specialized products and tools to help clients including state and local governments and large and small companies simplify purchases and control spending. The unit reached $35 billion in revenues in 2023.
Expanded selection and faster service: Many of the changes Amazon has made in its consumer operations also benefit its business customers.
- As it has opened storefronts like Michael Kors and Saks to give individual buyers more choices, the retailer has also expanded its product selection for business customers, who now have access to 25% more items worldwide compared with a year ago.
- Items supplied by small business merchants are up 80% globally YoY, bringing the total catalog for Amazon Business clients to over 160 million products.
- The retailer has also sped up business deliveries. About half of global Business Prime orders and more than 70% of US Business Prime orders arrived via same day or next day delivery in the past year.
Buying behavior shifts: Organizations are consolidating vendors to streamline operations and seek greater visibility in how their teams buy, bolstering oversight and accountability tools, said Brenda Spoonemore, vice president of US Commercial, Public and Strategic Sectors at Amazon.
- Many businesses are using pre-approved item lists and built-in spending thresholds to allow employees to access the products they need but remain within defined guardrails.
- Small and midsize businesses are behaving more like larger companies, placing bigger orders to pare per unit costs. “These are intentional strategies to reduce friction, save time, and operate with more predictability,” Spoonemore said.
- Purchases of tech goods like laptops, barcode scanners, and wireless printers are now being placed alongside office and janitorial supplies.